


Back to the Past

by Childhood_Dreams



Series: Eliana Blackwell [1]
Category: Charmed (TV)
Genre: #charmed #thebookofshadows #evilwyatt #supernatural #romance #destiny, F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-30
Packaged: 2018-10-19 04:57:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 42,451
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10632696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Childhood_Dreams/pseuds/Childhood_Dreams
Summary: A retelling of Chris's journey into the past to save Wyatt but with the addition of Eliana Blackwell. She is not only the girl Wyatt loves but his personal assassin. What if he sends her along with Bianca to make sure Chris comes back to the future? Will she be able to follow Wyatt's orders? Or will good prevail? Will Chris, Leo, and the Charmed Ones learn to trust Eliana? Will her ultimate mission fail? Will love spark between her and Chris or is she destined to be with Wyatt? Read to find out.





	1. Future Girl

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own Charmed or any of the characters from the show. Eliana Blackwell, however, is mine. For anyone who has NOT ever seen the show, be warned, there WILL be spoilers and it would be helpful to at least look up a summary of what the show is about as I don't know how much time I am going to spend on explaining all of the background details. This story starts of in the middle of season 6 and will follow the show script except where I deviate. As always, feel free to like, share, and comment any thoughts :)

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I managed to find this spell in the Book of Shadows. You NEED to use it to go back in time and stop him from ever turning evil. Good luck!

~ The Shadow Queen

Chris breathed heavily as he read over the note. For months now, he had been receiving mysterious notes from someone calling themselves the 'Shadow Queen'. They were clearly someone who had managed to infiltrate high within Wyatt's ranks as their information had always been helpful in the Resistance's attempts to thwart Wyatt's plans.

Chris let out another sigh. He knew he had to follow the instructions in the note. It was the only way to save the future. He got up and went to go find his Fiancé, Bianca. With her help, he was going to go back to the past.

Past:

Chris stood in the attic flipping through the pages of the Book of Shadows. The 'neurotic whitelighter' paused as he landed on a promising page. He read over the description of the demon and then added his name to the growing list of suspects.

For the past few months since he'd arrived at the Halliwell manor and become the Charmed Ones whitelighter, Chris had been solely focused on trying to find the demon who would turn his big brother evil. He rubbed his eyes and continued to rift through the pages desperately. He knew whoever turned Wyatt managed to do so before he was born and he was running out of time.

He took one last look through the book before closing it with a thud and orbing to P3, the club that Piper owned.

\----------------------------------------------

"Paige, where you been? You're late." Piper said noticing her orange-haired sister finally walking up to the bar.

"I know, I'm sorry, I got tied up." Paige replied as she sat down next to her two sisters.

"Where? At Richard's?" Phoebe piped up as she lifted her head from her Chinese-American dictionary. Her current boyfriend/boss, Jason Dean, was currently in Hong Kong and she had recently taken up the task of learning some basic words.

"No. I was at work. Get your mind out of the gutter, missy." Paige said, glaring at Phoebe.

"Hey, you're the one who orbs home to find lingerie." Phoebe responded, lifting her hands in the air innocently.

"Two times, I did that twice!"

"Yes, it's about the only time we see you anymore!" Said Piper.

"Why did I come here? To get picked on?" Paige threw her hands up in the air and faked getting up to leave.

"Because we love you." Phoebe responded, sticking her tongue out at her sister.

"We kinda miss ya." Piper chimed in.

"I am not at Richard's that much. Fine, okay, maybe I am. But, you know I am just an orb away if you need help." Paige said, a little flustered as she blushed.

"Yeah, the thing is we've just gotta be careful because if we stay too far away from each other, demons take advantage. We've learned that lesson the hard way a few times." Piper said calmly. 

"I know, I know, I get it. I just really don't want to think of us living together in fifty years."

"Ah, twenty, thirty years tops."

"We can always move to Hong Kong so I could see Jason whenever I want to." Phoebe said grinning.

"How do you say "dream on" in Chinese?"

Phoebe squinted and flipped through her dictionary intently. "Ni Tsai Tsua Mung."

"Impressive," Piper laughed as she glanced at Phoebe.

"Berlitz. Okay, what about you, missy? Spill it."

"Spill what?"

"Come on, you and Greg. Put out any fires lately?" Phoebe wiggles her brows up and down energetically at Piper.

"Is that supposed to be a subtle fireman reference?"

"Yeah, you like it?"

"Wait a minute, you're going out with a firefighter?" Paige frowned in confusion.

"Proof positive, you haven't been around much." Piper said looking pointedly at Paige.

"Let's see. They've been seeing each other for about three weeks and someone, I won't say who, but it's not the fireman, is avoiding taking it to the next step," Phoebe explained to Paige.

"I am not avoiding, I'm just a little reluctant. That's all."

"My dear, it is time to get back in the saddle." Paige circled an arm in the air to symbolize the action of her words.

"Now a cowboy reference," Piper said, rolling her eyes at her sister's antics.

"Piper, you just need to relax and let it happen." Phoebe advised.

"Yeah, easy for you to say, you weren't the one sleeping with an angel for three years."

"Yeah, but you were nervous when you and Leo first started, you know. I seem to remember that you used to freeze him during all the good parts, right? Hey, maybe you should, uh..." Phoebe wiggles her brows suggestively again.

"No, I'm not freezing Greg. I'm so nervous I'll probably blow him up."

"Well..."

"Gutter, gutter, gutter." Piper said shaking her head furiously at Phoebe.

Re three sisters looked up as Chris walked up to them. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Stuff," Phoebe answered. Chris looked at her than started to walk away.

"Hey, where are you going?" Paige asked.

" I gotta go work on the next demon...stration." Chris replied, adding the last part as he remembered that they were in public.

"Chris, why don't you relax and come have a drink with us?" Phoebe cried out in frustration as she looked at their whitelighter. For the past couple of weeks he had been hounding them over and over again, forcing them to go after a number of different demons.

"Thanks, but I didn't come here to relax." Chris said, shaking his head tiredly and walking towards his room. He had needed a place to stay and Piper had agreed to let him stay in the back room of her club. It wasn't the best living situation but it worked well enough under the circumstances.

"That is one bitchy Whitelighter." Phoebe said shaking her head as they watched him leave.

"You're telling me."

"Hey, Piper, why don't you go talk to the guilt machine over there," Paige suggested.

As Chris walked into his room, he froze, seeing a familiar girl standing in front of him.

"Bianca. I don't understand. What are you doing here?" His brows furrowed in confusion. He had left his fiancé in the future, so what was she doing her in the past with him?

"Shh, there'll be time to explain later. But for now..." Bianca stepped forward and ran her finger down his chest seductively. As Chris leaned in for a kiss, however, she shoved her hand straight through his chest, using her powers to start draining him of his own.

"You know, all work and no - hey!" Piper shouted as she walked through the door and spotted what was going on. Bianca quickly removed her hand from Chris's chest but Was to late. Piper had already blown her up with her blasting power.

"Are you okay?" Piper rushed over to where Chris had fallen down.

"Yeah, I think so." He said getting up and trying to play it off. On the inside, thought, he was hurting bad. Not just from the physical pain and the drain on his magic, but from the mental confusion his mind was suffering at the appearance of the girl he loved.

"What happened? Who is she?" Piper asked.

"No idea," Chris lied. He was always lying to the sisters and Leo. He couldn't let them find out anything about him; he was too worried about how it might affect the future negatively...future consequences he'd tell them over and over.

\----------------------------------------------

"Is that the mark?" Paige pointed at a page in the Book of Shadows. The three sisters had gone home and were now flipping through the Book trying to identify Chris's attacker. Chris and Leo stood watching them from the opposite side of the room.

Piper shook her head. "No, it looked more like a bird."

"A bird. So you're saying maybe the Audubon society sent the demon after us?" Paige joked.

Piper just shook her head. "Just keep looking."

"Guys, I'm telling you I'm fine, don't sweat it."

"You sure she wasn't a Darklighter?" Leo suggested, trying to be helpful.

"I'm sure," Piper said.

Phoebe tilted her head with curiosity as she glanced at Leo. "What else would be after a Whitelighter?"

"I don't know, that's what worries me.

"She's gone. Piper blew her away, what's the big deal?" Chris interjected. He really didn't want to dwell on Bianca or for the Charmed Ones to find out ho he knew her. It would just lead to more questions.

"The big deal is someone tried to kill you, Chris." Phoebe said, looking at him in shock at his indifference.

"Look at me, not a scratch, nothing!"

Leo walked over to stand closer to Piper, Phoebe, and Paige. "You know, how did she get that close to you, anyway, if you didn't even know who she was?"

Chris took a step and one of the floorboards squeaked.

"We really oughta fix that, you know." He said, trying to change the subject.

"Come on, Chris, who's after you?" Leo wasn't falling for it.

"Has it crossed your mind that maybe she wasn't after me? Maybe she was trying to get to them." He tried to switch tactics and pointed at the sisters.

Paige nodded in agreement. "It kind of makes sense."

"Finally, somebody's listening. Now if you'll excuse me, I've got some work to take care of." With that said, Chris left the room.

"He's not telling the truth," Leo said as he watched Chris's back exit down the stairs.

"Leo, maybe there's nothing to tell." Paige pointed out. It wasn't news to them that Leo suspected Chris of something. He hadn't trusted him since the day the whitelighter had first shown up to help the sisters fight the Titans.

Leo looked hopefully at Phoebe. "Could you sense anything?"

"From Chris? No, I can never sense anything from him."

"What are you thinking?" Piper said looking at her ex-husband.

"I'm thinking that if we can figure out who she was, we might be able to find out who Chris is."

Paige sighed. "Well, we're not gonna find it in here. At least not until we have more to go on. So guys, you know where I'm gonna be if you need me.

"Yeah, I gotta go too." Phoebe joined in and the two started heading towards the door.

Before they managed to leave the room, however, a strong gust of wind swept through and a portal in the shape of a triquetra opened up on the side of the back wall. Piper, Phoebe, Page, and Leo all looked at the portal in surprise. What was going on?

The next thing they knew, a girl came stumbling through. She glanced back as the portal disappeared.

"Did it work?" She mumbled to herself, but they still caught her words.

"Did what work? Who the hell are you?" Piper shouted in frustration.

The girl looked at them and smiled. "Well, seeing as you're all here, I guess it must have!" Though she was smiling, Phoebe could see a glint of sadness behind it as the smile was clearly just for show. Phoebe tried to get a read on her, but her emotions were just as guarded as Chris's were, if not more.

"I repeat, who are you, and what are you doing in my house!" Piper exclaimed.

"Well, um...my name is Eliana. I'm here looking for Chris? I need to warn him about something!"

"Oh no, don't tell me you're from the future too!" Piper groaned loudly.

"Yeah, just about twenty years or so, look I'm sorry, but I don't have time to explain. Is Chris here? I need to warn him about Bianca! He sent her to bring him back! And he doesn't know that she's turned on him! I had to come! There's no one else left who knew about his plan to come here in the first place! Please tell me he's alright?"


	2. The Phoenix

"He's fine, we killed the demon girl. I blasted her to ashes."

"Did you make sure she didn't reform?"

"Reform?"

Eliana rolled her eyes and went over to the Book of Shadows.

"Woah, wait a minute!"

"What! Like I haven't looked through this a million times before?"

"You have?"

"Of course I have, look you clearly don't trust me yet, but see...at least the Book does! - ah here we go! The Phoenix's. They're a family of assassin witches for hire. Born with a distinct birthmark symbolizing the rise from Salem's ashes. Read up while I try and find Chris." Eliana turned the Book around so the girls could see the entry. Without another word, she left the room.

"Friend or foe?" Piper asked her sisters as they watched her walk out.

"No idea, I couldn't get a good read on her, she's as blocked off as Chris. But she seems alright so far. We'll just have to wait and see."

When Eliana was sure the witches weren't following her out of the attic and Chris wasn't in the house, she used her power to orb around to all his favorite spots to try and find him. Well - it technically wasn't her power. Her own individual powers included the ability to move objects with her mind (telekinesis), telepathy, and the ability to tap into other creature's powers and 'borrow' them. It was one of the elements of her telepathic powers.

Though she couldn't hold more than one borrowed power at a time so far and she couldn't use it for too long as it was an enormous power drain, but orbing was a basic power that didn't take up much energy so she never had any problem using it.

While the five of them had been talking in the attic, Chris had orbed to a bench in a secluded area in a clearing of woods that had been his and Bianca's 'spot'. This had been where he'd asked her to marry him before leaving to travel to the past. He sat there as memories of the future floated to the front of his mind.

"You really shouldn't try to orb anymore, you know. It could kill you." Chris looked up and saw that Bianca had shimmered in.

"Is that what you want?"

"If that's what I wanted you'd already be dead. All I want is to bring you back."

"How'd you know I'd be here?"

"Same reason you'd know I'd be waiting here. This is still our spot, isn't it?"

"No. This is what we hoped it would be. This is what we were trying to preserve for our future. Do you remember?"

"We were naive to think we could change anything, to stop him."

"You don't believe that. Or at least you didn't."

"Well, I do now."

"What happened to you, Bianca? How did he turn you back?"

"That's not important. What is important is I was interrupted in stripping you of your powers. And if I don't finish what I started, you'll die soon. Think of it as an infection, and I'm the only one with the antidote."

"Here or there, I am dead anyway."

"No. He gave me his word he wouldn't hurt you. Please, Chris, don't make this any harder than it has to be."

Chris looked up at her sadly and then orbed back to the manor.

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'Wait, how old is the little girl?" Phoebe asked Piper. She and Paige had just come back from investigating Bianca's mom's place. While there, they had met the younger version of Bianca, though they hadn't known it was her at the time.

"I don't know, four, five?" Piper answered. They gasped as Chris suddenly orbed in and fell to the floor.

"Chris!"

Chris clutched his chest and whispered, "Bianca," under his breath as the memories continued to wash over him.

"Oh my god, what is that?" Phoebe cried out as they finally saw the hole in his chest that Bianca had left.

"I don't know." Leo said looking at it carefully.

"It doesn't matter, just heal him." Leo leaned over and started to heal Chris.

From where she had just orbed downtown, Eliana could tell instinctually that something was wrong with Chris. For some reason, she had always been able to tell when Wyatt or Chris was in trouble. She borrowed a whitelighters sensing power and found out that Chris had made it back to the Haliiwell Manor.

She wasn't ready to show them her powers yet so she didn't immediately orb in like she wanted to; if she orbed in they would think she was a whitelighter, and she didn't want to have to explain about her 'borrowing' abilities. It wasn't exactly a common gift. Not to mention, she knew Chris didn't trust her and he would probably tell them when he woke up anyways...if he did.

Eliana shook her head. She couldn't think that way. She had to stay positive. She had heard Wyatt himself order Bianca to bring Chris back alive, at all costs. He hated his brother, but he knew Chris was far more useful alive. She orbed to the street in front of the house and yanked on the door. Thankfully it was open and she rushed forward and up the stairs and into the attic.

"Eliana! Where have you been?"

"Looking for him and Bianca, was that not obvious?" she replied sarcastically. They looked at her but decided to avoid the tone of her voice and focus on Chris instead.

"Why didn't he tell us about that?" Phoebe asked as they all looked down at his chest.

"Why doesn't he tell us about a lot of things?" Piper quipped. "What's the problem?" Leo was frowning.

"He's not healing. Something's draining his powers and blocking mine. It's like a virus.

"A virus named Bianca!" Eliana exclaimed, crossing her arms as her eyes narrowed. She had never liked the girl very much; if she was being completely honest, she might have even felt a little bit of jealousy towards the girl, but Chris had never listened to her warnings even before he had lost all trust in her. But apparently she had been right not to trust her after all!

"You think she did this?"

"It's gotta be. Like I said, he sent her personally to bring Chris back to him."

"Who did!"

"Um...I can't really say...future consequences - what?" she noticed them all giving her exasperated looks.

"Ugh, You sound just like Chris!" Paige grumbled. The girls were sick of the 'future consequences' excuse. Eliana couldn't help a small grin from forming. It did sound exactly like something Chris would say.

"Well, we have to find her to save him. Figure out what she did...Whoa," Phoebe had stepped closer to Chris and was startled to sense some intense emotions emitting from him.

Leo looked up at her, "what is it?"

"Oh my God, he loves her."

"Loves who? Bianca?"

"Yeah. She just broke his heart. She was his fiancé - and he managed to turn her evil again!" Eliana couldn't keep the contempt out of her voice. "He should have her engagement ring on him; never went anywhere without it after she gave it back to him to remember her by when he decided to come back here...you can use it to scry for her. I'll start working on the vanquishing potion in case she's not in the mood to help.

\----------------------------------------------

"You seem to know your way around a vanquishing potion," Phoebe commented as she watched Eliana skillfully mix and match the correct ingredients.

"Yeah...I had...excellent teachers -" Phoebe noticed her eyes mist over as a distant expression filled her face.

Just then, the crystal landed on a spot on the map. Eliana finished the potion hurriedly and filled a number of vials with it. They walked down the stairs and went over to Chris; he had been moved downstairs to one of the couches.

"Hang in there, Chrissy," Eliana murmured as she ran a hand through his hair. He looked so peaceful in his sleep. Too bad it wouldn't last.

She sighed and turned to Leo, all business again. "We found Bianca, she's at her mother's."

"Little Bianca?"

"No, the one we want. Here, something for Chris to remember her by. Or not." Eliana handed Leo the engagement ring.

"Got the vanquishing potion so after we orb over there, I'm gonna..." a warm glow covered the Charmed Ones. Eliana and Leo stood there looking on in confusion as Paige stopped talking.

"You're gonna what?" Leo prompted Paige.

"I'm gonna move into Richard's house."

"Are you? Good for you," Piper said, turning to glance at her sister.

"That's a great idea. And I think I'm gonna go check out what's going on in Hong Kong." Phoebe added.

"Cool," Paige chimed in again.

Leo and Eliana looked at each other, then the sisters. "Hang on a second, this isn't you guys. You must be under some kind of spell, you have to fight this!" Leo commented quickly.

"How can you fight your heart?" Asked Phoebe. She turned to look at Paige. "Will you drop me off on the way to Richard's?"

"I would love to."

"Paige, Phoebe, listen to me," Leo tried again.

"Zay jen," Phoebe exclaimed as she grabbed Paige's hand and they orbed out.

"Hm," was all Piper said as she left the room as well.

"Stupid inhibition spell!" Eliana mumbled as she gingerly pushed some hair away from Chris's eyes.

"Paige, Phoebe, get back here right now!"

"That's not gonna work, Leo, you know how strong this spell is! I'm gonna go up to the attic and start making the potion that counteracts it," Eliana walked back up to the attic with one last glance at Chris's body lying on the couch. It tore her to see him like this.

Piper walked back into the living room all dressed up. "Wyatt's sleeping and the monitor's in the kitchen," she said.

Leo gazed up at his former wife and the mother of his child. "Piper, but you can't go anywhere. What about Chris?"

"Wish me luck," Piper said happily as she closed the door behind her, completely ignoring Leo. As she did so, she never noticed Bianca shimmering in. The Phoenix kicked Leo in the head; knocking him unconscious, and went over to Chris.

"Come on, we're going home." She was about to shiner out when Eliana came back down the stairs.

"Bianca! Stop this! You can't bring him back to Wyatt! You know what he will do to Chris! Please...you love him, I know you do! Don't do this!" Eliana pleaded with her.

"Don't talk to me about Chris, Eliana. You're one to talk, you don't think I don't know he's ordered you to bring him back should I fail? Your just as guilty in this as I am. And just so we're clear, Chris loves me not you. Why would he ever love such a pathetic little lap dog like you? You're more evil than I am! The things you've done just to please Lord Wyatt."

Eliana dropped her head down in shame. It was true, she thought furiously blinking away the memories that were threatening to surface. She was nothing but Wyatt's pet. He ordered her to do whatever he wanted and as much misery as he put her in, a part of her couldn't help but love him still. No matter how evil he was, her mind would keep flashing back to their childhood and the good times they'd had before the Event. As hard as she tried to resist him, Wyatt always won in the end with her...

After the event, Wyatt had given up being good forever and had started forcing people to bow to his will. His attention had been most focused on Eliana. On the outside, it looked like they were still just a happy couple who both enjoyed striking fear into their enemies, but no one had needed more persuading than her. No one knew the real truth about their relationship, and no one ever would. Lord Wyatt had forbidden it. Eliana bit her lip hard as she felt the sting of the magic flowing through her body and struggled not to cry out in pain as she was forced to swallow the truth.

Before she could find a proper way to respond to Bianca, the girl had shimmered out, leaving Eliana cursing as she ran over to try and wake Leo. It didn't work so after she made sure he was still breathing, she decided to go after the sisters on her own.

\----------------------------------------------

"Wait, hold it," Greg muttered as he paused while kissing Piper.

"Why?" Piper didn't want to stop! She was finally feeling free and wanted to enjoy herself with Greg!

"Because I just wanna make sure that you're sure about this," said Greg, still in a state of slight confusion that things had escalated so fast when in the past, Piper had seemed so hesitant.

"What's the matter? Am I not acting sure?" Piper yanked him down and started kissing him again, but he pulled away.

"Yeah, it's just that, well, you've been a little reluctant until now, and I guess I'm just curious why the change."

"Um, who knows? Who cares? All I know is I want -" Piper gasped as Eliana orbed in; she'd had no choice since they hadn't heard her knocking loudly on the door. "Oh my god!" Piper raised her hands up and quickly froze Greg. "What, are you out of your mind? What are you, a peeping whitelighter now! Wait...did you just orb? - You're a whitelighter?"

Eliana didn't say anything, instead, she just threw a vial of potion at Piper and her body lit up as the spell wore off.

"What's going on? What am I doing here? Um, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know, just counteracting a spell that Bianca apparently cast on you," Eliana said raising her eyebrows and crossing her arms.

"What kind of spell?"

"One that lowers your inhibitions."

Piper glanced down at Greg and blushed furiously. "Oh, boy."

"Yeah..." Eliana muttered, blushing herself and turning her gaze to the floor.

"So did she get Chris?"

"Yeah, and I'm hoping that if we can break the spell on Phoebe and Paige, we might be able to get Chris back. Leo's fine, by the way, just knocked out."

"Right, uh-huh, okay, so let's go. Um, you need to turn around because you don't get to see anymore."

"I wouldn't want to see anymore..." Eliana mumbled disgustedly as she went to go wait outside. It's not like she hadn't had sex before, but watching Wyatt and Chris's mother - that was a whole other issue entirely! Her face was tomato red as she realized she'd just walked in on the woman who had treated her like a beloved child and part of the family in the future...before the Event, that is to say...

\----------------------------------------------

"Hi, how's it going?" Piper exclaimed loudly as Eliana orbed them to Paige and Richard. Eliana covered her face with her hands as she turned away. She didn't need the image of Richard on top of Paige in her mind in addition to Piper and Greg!

"What are you doing here?" Paige shouted as she quickly tugged the covers up to hide her naked body.

"Moving you back home. Hit her," Eliana threw the potion at Paige and she lit up just as Piper had done."No time to explain. Come on, we gotta get Phoebe or we're never gonna get Chris."

\----------------------------------------------

"Hey, future girl," Piper yelled as Paige orbed her sisters and Eliana into the attic where Bianca was drawing a new portal to take Chris back to the future.

Piper threw a potion towards Bianca but the Phoenix had thrown a dagger that smashed the bottle in mid-air. She then shimmered out as Piper froze the dagger. Bianca shimmered back in beside Piper, grabbed the dagger and held it against Piper's throat.

"You were saying?" She said, smoothly.

"Wow, she is good," Phoebe commented. Her and Paige moved towards Piper to try and help.

"Uh-uh. I can kill her in half the time it takes you to even think about it."

"Yeah, we still have enough potion to vanquish you," Paige countered.

"Maybe. But then you really will have to hope the power of two will do. Won't you, Paige? You'd be surprised what's in the history books. Now put the viles down slowly."

Chris lifted his head, "Bianca, don't. Let her go and I promise I'll go with you."

"Chris, what are you doing?"

"If you kill her, there won't be a future for either one of us to go back to and you know it," Chris pointed out.

"What are you talking about?" Phoebe looked from Chris to Bianca to Eliana.

"You'll see if you live long enough," Bianca said quietly as she grabbed Chris and they started walking towards the portal.

"Piper, freeze them," Paige called out. Piper motioned to freeze the room but it didn't seem to work.

"Uh, okay, I get why she didn't freeze but why didn't he freeze?"

"I don't-Unless he's a..." Phoebe mused.

"I'm a witch too. That's right. Part witch, part Whitelighter. Just like you, Paige," Chris finished for her.

"You lied to us?" Piper cried out.

"I had to. It was the only way I could get you to trust me."

"Trust you?"

"Never mind, it doesn't matter anyway."

"So that's it? You're just gonna leave?" Piper was furious.

"I don't have a choice. She stripped my powers. Looks like Leo's gonna have to fix that floorboard without me. Let's go." He and Bianca walked through the portal and disappeared.

"Damn it!" Eliana whispered under her breath. She wanted to follow him through but knew that she would be no help to anyone if she did. She doubted Wyatt would let her out of his sight long enough for her to do anyone any good. She had to stay here and try and get him back to the past.

\----------------------------------------------

"There's gotta be a spell in here somewhere!" Phoebe flopped her arms in the air in frustration. They had been looking through the Book of Shadows for the past few hours without any luck.

"To take us to the future? I don't think so," Paige said.

"Bianca's a witch, she could do it. How could she do it?" Phoebe pointed out.

"He used a spell from the Book - hasn't been invented yet - only works one way," Eliana explained quietly.

"How did we do it five years ago? Paige asked.

"The Elders made that happen, remember? Leo answered.

Piper looked up, "well, you're an Elder, make it happen."

"That was a unique situation."

"This isn't?"

"Hey, I don't like this either, don't you think I want to save him too?"

"I don't know if I want to save him or kick his ass," Phoebe said angrily.

"That still doesn't change all the good he's done," Leo suggested.

"Hmm, you're certainly singing a different tune. You've come along way," Paige noted.

"Okay, despite all his secrets, I still believe that he came back to protect Wyatt and that is enough for me to want to save him."

"The question is, how?" They all stopped as they heard the sound of Leo's foot on the squeaky floorboard. "Leo."

"What?"

"Fix the floorboard!" Phoebe finished for her sister.

"Maybe he was trying to tell us something."

"Who, what?" Leo said in confusion.

"Maybe. Maybe that's where Bianca was taking him. To the attic in the future," Piper clarified.

"But that would still be there in the future, wouldn't it?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, unless we fixed it."

"Or used it to send him something, something that he needed."

"Like what?"

"His powers," Eliana chimed in.

\----------------------------------------------

"Hurry, hurry, hurry!" Phoebe motioned towards her sister.

"I'm trying, I'm trying," Paige responded as she tore off a page of notebook paper and handed it to Phoebe. Phoebe rolled it up and handed it to Piper.

"There you go." Leo pulled up the squeaky floorboard and Piper threw in the paper. "Put it back."

\----------------------------------------------

It was only about a minute and a half before the portal suddenly opened again and Chris landed hard on the floor.

"Oh my god, are you okay?" Paige said as she helped Chris up.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Nice spell."

"Yeah, but we just put it in there like two seconds ago." Phoebe said.

"Yeah, well, you see, the way time travel works..." Leo tried to explain.

Phoebe shook her head, "Yeah, I don't wanna know, I already have a little headache. Thanks."

Piper looked at Chris, "You have some serious explaining to do, young man."

"I know. Listen, I'm sorry I lied to you. I really am, but..."

"No, no buts. It's about time you tell us the truth, now." Piper said pointedly.

"I can't. But not because I don't want to, but because there's only so much I can tell you without the future being changed too much."

Paige looked at him, "Um, isn't that your whole point? To come and change the future?"

"Yeah. But that was supposed to be more like a surgical strike."

"To save Wyatt," Leo piped up.

Chris nodded, "to save Wyatt."

"What about Bianca?" Phoebe asked.

"Bianca won't be a threat to anyone anymore." Chris said, looking down at the floor. Yet another person he loved had just died because of Wyatt...he couldn't bear to think about it right now.

"I'm sorry," Phoebe said, sensing his intense feelings again.

Suddenly Chris spotted Eliana and his eyes widened in shock, then narrowed in anger. "You! What are you doing here!"

Eliana stepped back in fright. She had been dreading this. She raised her hands up in surrender, "look, I just came back to warn you about Bianca!"

"Oh, please! Like I'm gonna buy that! What has he really sent you back here for? I won't let you harm them again!"

"Chris, I swear, I never -" Eliana continued to back up, but Chris didn't give her the chance to explain.

"Ropes!" He shouted, gesturing to a pile of rope that had been stashed in a corner of the attic. They scattered into bright globes of blue light and disappeared; only to reappear wrapped around Eliana's wrists and ankles. She tripped over her feet in surprise and landed on the floor in surprise. Before she could get up, however, Chris had shouted again.

"Crystals! Circle!" A number of pyrite crystals formed a perimeter around Eliana and she squeezed herself into a ball. She knew if she reached out to far that the crystals would shock her painfully.

"Chris, what the hell!" The sisters cried out in surprise and shock. Phoebe reeled as she felt a wave of intense fear and hatred wash over her.

"You can't trust her!" He yelled in fury as he shifted a crystal closer towards Eliana. She cringed in pain as the energy rocked through her body.

"You're wrong, Chris! Calm down! She came back to warn us about Bianca! She reversed the effects of her spell on us!"

"She's a clever lier! I bet he sent her back just to make sure Bianca got the job done!" He cried out as his eyes narrowed to slits. Eliana lowered her head in shame as he guessed correctly. Contrary to what he believed,  
she wasn't the best lier and couldn't deny that he was right. If she had been a better lier, she was sure she would have been able to come up with a clever excuse, but she couldn't.

"See! She doesn't even deny it! You can not trust her! She killed one of my best friends right in front of me, so don't you dare tell me to calm down!" Piper,  
Phoebe, and Paige's eyes widened as they looked at Eliana in surprise. Had they really been wrong about the girl? She had seemed genuinely concerned over all of their safety, but maybe Chris was right and it was all just an act!

"Look, Chris, it wasn't what you think! Please, let me explain -" before Eliana could finish, Chris lifted the crystal towards her again and the energy shot through her body once more. This time he didn't draw it back right away, however. He kept it there until she felt the room spin and spots formed in her eyes as her vision went black. She slumped to the floor unconscious.


	3. Emotions Gone Wild

Eliana's POV

When I came to, I heard voices whispering frantically back and forth but couldn't make out what they were saying. My vision was cloudy but as I went to rub my eyes, I realized that my hands were tied. I sat up quickly and whipped my head back and forth, my fear rising. Where was I? What had happened? Everything was a blur.

I tugged and pulled hard on the cords binding me but only managed to rub my skin raw. My mind was racing as memories bombarded me. I trembled violently as I tried to control my breathing. I couldn't let Him know that I was terrified! I refused to give Him the satisfaction!

"Woah! Chris, she's completely terrified! I can feel it! I don't care what she's done in the future but whatever it is, it can't possibly justify putting her through this! She helped us rescue you!" I heard the words but they didn't register; I was too paralyzed by my fear.

"So what! Why should I care how the bitch is feeling? After everything she and Wy-Him...have put me through? Oh, don't give me those looks! You wouldn't care either if you knew all the horrible things she's done!"

Still caught up in my own little world, I didn't see the shocked expressions on Piper, Phoebe, and Paige's faces at Chris's harsh words.

There was complete silence in the room as I continued to tug hard on the ropes that bound me. The tension continued to build and build until I couldn't take it anymore.

"Say something you bastard!" I spat out, trying not to let Him know how scared I truly was. It only made Him enjoy it more. "I know you're there, you sadistic prick! Whatever you're gonna do just get it over with already instead of just standing there!"

And still there was silence. He knew I hated that more than anything - the quiet before the storm - always the worst and He liked to drag it out as long as possible. "Wyatt...please..." I whispered as quietly as I could; hating myself for begging.

A number of gasps filled the room. Apparently I hadn't said it quietly enough. But then I realized something and my fear increased. He wasn't the only one in the room! That was never a good sign. I cautiously lifted my head up and my eyes opened wide as I stared around me.

"What, what are you guys doing here? You shouldn't be here!" I stared in shock at Piper, Phoebe, and Paige; my heart thumping wildly. Why had He brought them to the future! It could majorly screw up their timelines! He knew better than to risk that!

Then my eyes met a familiar pair of green ones and my heart shattered. "Chris...no...no, no, NO! You REALLY can't be here! Oh, gawd! I failed!" I moaned as I continued to claw at the now blood-stained ropes, tears spilling from my eyes. He had promised not to hurt Chris. It was the only reason I did what I did - to ensure that he was left alone! I was too focused on my own thoughts to see the startled look that Chris was giving me.

"Enough with your silly games! Tell us what He sent you here for!" Chris screamed at me. The venomous tone in his voice brought my head back up.

"What...what are you talking about?" I stared at him in confusion.

"You know what I'm talking about! Stop LYING! Why.did.He.send.you! Who are you here to kill!"

"What the hell are you talking about!" I yelled in frustration. I had a splitting headache and my wrists were burning where the cords were digging in. "I don't even know how you got here to begin with! You were supposed to be in the past, making sure things changed for the better! So how the hell am I supposed to know how He brought you back! I certainly didn't - and as far as I know, the only person besides me that he sent after you, was Bianca - and you said she wasn't a problem anymore! So stop blaming me for all of this! I don't know what the hell is going on! I just...just wanna be left alone..." I ended my rant on a sob.

"Um...Eliana..., where exactly do you think we are right now?" I looked up at Phoebe even more confused than before.

"What do you mean? We're in the future of course! - r, right?" My voice broke as I looked around the room and realized that it didn't look the way it should.

"No, no we're not. Why did you think that?" Phoebe said; her voice almost kind, as she made to step closer to me. Chris threw his arm out and stopped her before she could do so.

I stared at her blankly, my head still reeling. "Because...because that's how it always is...I mean, I just assumed when I woke up like that..." I paused as the recent events finally came rushing back. "um...wait, so you're telling me that we aren't in His future right now? He didn't find a way to get Chris back?"

"No, no He didn't and He won't, no matter what tricks you try to employ to get me there!" Chris said coldly. "I will be finishing what I started.

"Well I won't deny that He sent me back to watch over Bianca, but He technically didn't order me to bring you back if she failed; which for the record, is the last thing I want to do - no matter how pissed he would be - and He did not send me here to kill anyone! Whether you believe it or not. And um...sorry about just now, I guess I must have...just been really disoriented. My bad..."

I lowered my head in shame. I couldn't believe I'd acted like that around them! I'm sure I had just made a complete fool out of myself. They couldn't find out the truth! It was too embarrassing. I was a strong, independent, classy woman, not some sniveling, terrified, and spineless freak! At least that's what I kept telling myself...

"Okaay, so if you're not here to take me back or kill anyone, then what are you still doing here! Why don't you just go back to Him! I'm sure He's just pining away without you!" I cringed at Chris's last words. If he only knew how wrong he was. But of course, he never would. I didn't want him knowing and even if I did, the spell wouldn't allow it.

"I told you...I came to warn you guys about Bianca..."

"Even if I believed that, you've done that now, so why haven't you gone back yet!" Chris was shouting again and I found my own anger starting to rise.

"Well I would have thought that would have been obvious to you, Mr. Know-it-all! I don't want to! Why the hell would I wanna go back to Him! Why would anyone! You of all people know what He's like!" When I got angry it usually came out in the form of snarky sarcasm. That or a calm, ice-cold silent stare that I was told was bone chilling to witness.

"Oh, please, He worships the ground you walk on; not to mention, you've loved Him every since we were little, so don't try to play the 'I-had-no-way-out' card. It won't work. Do you honestly expect me to believe you would want to give up that perfect little kingdom of hell you two have created!"

I opened my mouth to tell him just how unaware of the situation he was, when I felt the familiar pangs of the tongue-tying spell shoot through my body. I bit my lip to stop myself from crying out.

"Woah, Phoebe, what's wrong!" Piper called out as Phoebe groaned and collapsed to the floor.

"I don't know! I just felt this sudden sharp pain throughout my body!" I gulped as I looked down at the floor in shame; she had clearly been sensing my own pain. I should have been paying more attention and blocked her from feeling what had just happened. By now, pain was my constant companion and I had built up a higher tolerance than normal - but sometimes I forgot that most people couldn't handle so much; especially an empath. I mentally kicked myself and strengthened the wall in my mind that kept Phoebe from sensing what I was feeling.

"You, YOU did this to her!" Chris shouted as he stalked over to me in fury.

"Chris! It wasn't her fault! Stop blaming her for everything!" Phoebe exclaimed as Paige helped her up from the floor. I looked down at my knees as I realized that Phoebe was staring at me intently.

"I wouldn't, except she is to blame for everything! How can you even think about sticking up for her, Phoebe! Ugh, I can't even stand the sight of this bitch right now! - Basement!"

Before I could register what had just happened, I found myself being orbed down into the basement. There were no windows and the lights were off, so it was pitch black. I curled myself up and closed my eyes. The dark was not anything new to me and I'd certainly slept in worse conditions so it wasn't hard for me to drift off to sleep; though I was plagued by nightmares as per usual.

Chris's POV

"What is your problem, Chris! First of all, you will watch your language in this house! I do not want Wyatt exposed to that! And secondly, how can you possibly hate that girl so much that you would treat her like that! How many times do we have to tell you - she helped us save you!" I could tell Piper was furious from the way she rested her hands on her hips and was glaring at me. I had seen her do that a million times growing up.

I glared at my family. Where was all this blind trust when I first came into their lives, huh? How could they stand there after months of wavering in their trust of me, only to suddenly turn around and stick up for Eliana her first day here! This was just another reason to hate her.

"That girl is the reason why the majority of my closest friends and family are dead! Don't you get it yet! She's worse than Bianca. She's His personal assassin! She could kill all of us a hundred different ways in about 5 seconds flat! She can not be trusted! She's only pretending to help so that she can get you to let your guard down around her!"

"Chris, here's what I wanna know, who is this 'He' you two keep referring to! I think it's about time you told us what the hell is really going on here!" Phoebe cried out, her emotions still whirling from the rollercoaster ride they had just experienced.

I huffed loudly and clenched my fists to try and calm myself down. It wasn't working. "I told you already, in the future where I come from, a very powerful witch has taken control of everything and set himself up as King. And she's his Queen! AND best-trained killer! There's simply no way that she has suddenly turned her back on Him!" As angry and frustrated as I was, I had to remember not to let slip that it was Wyatt who had turned evil. There was no way that they would believe me, not when baby Wyatt sat in front of them, as innocent as ever.

"You know what, I don't have to explain myself, she's from the future - I'm from the future - that makes what happens to her, MY business, not yours." I said gruffly.

"Considering this is MY house - as long as she is staying here, it is most definitely MY business!" Piper burst out just as stubbornly. I sighed and eased off, I had clearly gotten my temper from her, but there was no beating the original and I knew it was a lost cause.

"Fine, whatever, I'll 'try' to be more open-minded with her alright? Happy now! But don't expect me to trust her or let her out of the basement anytime soon!"

"She's barely an adult, Chris! She clearly just needs to be set on the right track! If your world is really as bad as you make it out to be, it couldn't have been easy for her! Stop treating her like some sort of prisoner! I will not have my basement turned into a crude prison cell!"

"And how do you think it was for me growing up? We all had to deal with the same situations and I didn't turn out like her! We all had to grow up fast, she may look young but that doesn't mean she's got any innocence left to save! And what the hell do you suppose we do then? There's no way we can just let her go - as much as I hate to admit it, we need as much information as we can get from her!"

"Ok, how about we bind her powers for the time being and restrict her to the first floor of the house? That way she's not stuck in a room 24/7 and has a little bit of freedom, but isn't a threat to us. We can set up the crystals to alert us if she tries to get up to the attic. Agreed?" Phoebe said in a compromising yet commanding tone. We all nodded our heads, but I still didn't like the idea of Eliana being allowed any sort of freedom. She didn't deserve it. It did make me feel better that she wouldn't have any of her magic though. I smiled at the thought. For a magical being, losing their magic, for however long, was a horrible and empty feeling. I should know, Bianca had just stolen mine not that long ago. Thankfully I had gotten them back in time!

I orbed out after we finished making arrangements for Eliana's stay; I needed to clear my head. I sat looking down on the Golden Gate Bridge as I thought over everything that had happened. I had to admit, there were things that she had said that had surprised me and almost convinced me she was telling the truth, but I just couldn't believe it. I had watched as she'd slammed a dagger straight into the heart of one of my best friends; Ryan. There hadn't been a single ounce of remorse in her cold brown eyes as she watched his life slip away.

What confused me the most though, was her initial reaction upon first waking up. What the hell had that been all about! For a second it had sounded like she had been genuinely frightened of my brother! But what reason could she of all people have for being scared of Him! Sure, practically every other human and creature alive was terrified of King Wyatt, but she was probably the only person in the entire world that he would never hurt! He loved her! My brother might be a master at torturing people, but I knew him well enough to know that he would never do that to her. She was the sole exemption.

And yet, the way she had reacted had mirrored the reactions I had seen from those who had been tortured and abused by Him. Considering the fact that I had been on the receiving end a number of times, I knew exactly why she had tensed up so much over the lengthy silence.

It was one of his signature moves. He would just stand there silently watching as the tension grew to unbearable heights. But what I couldn't understand was why she had acted as if she were the target. I knew my brother would never hurt her like that. He may have turned evil but she had been his whole world since the day she had first walked into our lives.

If I was being honest with myself, I had felt the same way about her at first; she had been the one to comfort me the most after the Event, but I had always known it was Wyatt she was destined to be with. After all, he always got everything his way.

After a certain point, I couldn't continue to ignore the signs that she had turned just as evil as Him. I had hoped for so long that the rumors about her had been falsehoods, but after watching the heartless way she had killed Ryan, it had not been possible to overlook. Any feelings I might have once had were dead...

I shook my head angrily for letting her get inside my head. It had probably been nothing - just another act to try and get me to let my guard down long enough for her to accomplish whatever evil scheme she was plotting. I had promised the sisters that I would treat her civilly, but that did not mean I had to trust her!

(let me know what y'all thought! First time trying to write something that dark yet not give everything away all at once!)


	4. Witchstock

3rd Person POV

"She's supposed to be here by now." Chris complained to Piper. Ever since Paige and Phoebe had moved out of the house, it had become a lot harder to vanquish demons.

"So, she's a little late."

"No, she's a lot late. Paige used to be the first one to a vanquish. What's wrong with her?"

"She's in love, that's hardly wrong."

"It is when it interferes with her responsibilities as a Charmed One!"

"Why don't you just let me handle this one alone."

"Because you've handled the last four vanquishes alone. I swear, you should've never let them move out."

"Hey, you don't see me complaining, I'm happy for them. And you should be too. So where is this demon and what's its name?"

Chris sighed and decided to let the matter rest for now. "No one knows its name. And it's too strong for one witch to handle alone."

Just then, the warehouse door opened and Darryl poked his head in. "How much longer is this gonna take?"

Piper looks at Chris. "Go see what Phoebe's doing." Chris nodded and orbed out.

"Where'd he go?" Darryl asked nervously.

"Hong Kong," Piper answered nonchalantly.

"Hong Kong? This is the last time I work ground control for you guys!" Darryl exclaimed as he closed the door.

Chris orbed back in with a kimono-wearing Phoebe.

"Hi! Wow," Piper's widened as she took in her sisters new appearance.

"Oh, how's Wyatt? I miss him so much," Phoebe cried out excitedly.

"He misses you too. Is this a bad time?" Piper said, laughing.

"No, this is a great time. Jason's away at a conference, I was just practising my origami. This is a tiger, you can have that. I'm sorry I didn't visit." Phoebe handed Piper and intricately folded paper tiger.

"No, no, don't be silly. You've obviously been really busy folding. I'm sorry I have to ask for your help, but..."

"No, it's okay. I mean, if you don't enter the tiger's cave, you may never get the cub, right?"

"Come again?"

"Ancient Chinese proverb. Means nothing ventured, nothing gained, you know?"

"Can we get the show on the road here?" Chris interrupted.

"Sure," Phoebe said, then gestured to Piper and her paper tiger, "keep that!"

Phoebe looked at Chris, "okay, what do you want me to do?"

"You're the bait. All you've gotta do is levitate into the air and when this demon senses your magic, it's gonna come fast and hard," he explained.

"Okay. Be careful of my origami, that tiger took two frickin hours!"

"Okay, let's do it."

Phoebe levitated into the air and something charged for her underground. A large, green blob suddenly flew out from underground and tried to swallow her. Piper screamed and quickly blew the blob up.

"All clear!" Piper opened the door and gestured to Darryl that everything was alright.

\----------------------------------------------

"Maybe you should just take me out back and hose me down," Phoebe suggested as she tried to clean off the leftover demon goo.

Bright blue lights filled the kitchen as Paige orbed in.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry I'm late, did I miss the vanquish?" She cried out.

Piper pointed to Phoebe, "ask her!"

"Hi! Hi! Hi!" Phoebe exclaimed as she jumped up and hugged her sister.

"Hey! Oh my god, Phoebe, how are you?"

"Great."

"How's Jason?"

"He's great," Phoebe answered. "How's Richard."

"Fabulous. He was taking his sweet time getting out of the house this morning, that's why I couldn't orb," Paige responded.

Phoebe looked at her in shock. "Wait, you don't orb with him in the house?"

Piper chimed in, "she's asked Richard to not to use his magic."

"Yes, so I'm trying to be supportive and, you know, not use my magic in front of him."

Phoebe looked at her sister. "Wow, a magic-free life. You're the last witch in the world I'd expect that from."

"It's not magic-free, it's just magic light."

"Yeah, it's still a lot to give up," Piper pointed out.

"What I get from him is kind of more than makes up for it I think," Paige said slowly.

"Eww," Phoebe said, wrinkling her nose in mock disgust.

"How's Hong Kong?" Paige asked as a distraction.

"Fascinating. I'm studying numerology and the Chinese zodiac. But you know, distant waters doesn't quench the immediate thirst."

"Huh?"

"Ancient Chinese proverb," Piper said.

"Just means that I miss my family," Phoebe clarified.

"Well, that's good because your family misses you too. I mean, I don't have a lot of people to hang out with aside from my baby who doesn't really say much, then one really neurotic Whitelighter, and the girl who 'lives' in our basement!" Piper said looking sternly at her two sisters.

"Yeah, how is my little buddy, Chris. Last time I saw him he wasn't in such good shape." Phoebe inquired.

"He's trying his best to hide it, but he's still really shaken up."

"Well, he lost his fiancé, you know, I don't blame him, it's huge." Since she had sensed the emotions rolling off of him at the time, Phoebe had a better understanding of how he might be feeling.

"Yeah, and there's something in the future that's really freaking him out," Piper continued. "And future-girl down in the basement isn't helping matters. He's been avoiding her ever since we bound her powers and started letting her roam around the first floor."

"How is she doing? Any new conclusions on whether she's good or bad news?" Phoebe inquired.

"Still working on that one...she seems a lot nicer than Chris made her out to be, and even he won't argue against the fact that Wyatt seems absolutely taken with her. I have to admit, she's really good with him, plus she helps out with chores around the house. We don't talk that much though. She mostly stays quiet, though I think that has more to do with trying not to provoke Chris. He's been very jumpy lately - even more determined than ever to protect Wyatt from evil which means there's a new demon hunt everyday.

"I feel like such a bad sister, leaving you guys alone to handle all this," Phoebe said guiltily.

"No, no, we're fine. Wyatt and I actually enjoy having the manor to ourselves; so to speak.

Paige raised her eyebrows at Piper, "really?"

"Yeah, I-I mean, we have room to spread out and life is very quiet and calm and best of all, everything stays clean."

No one noticed the little blobs of green goo that crawled off the pile of Phoebe's clothes as Piper picked them up and headed for the laundry.

"Well, if we're gonna hang out, I better go change my clothes. I think I left some here," Phoebe exclaimed as she hopped out of her chair.

"I'll go with you," Paige said, following Phoebe out of the room. As they made their way to Phoebe's room, she started to explain Paige's Chinese zodiac sign to her.

"Well, being born under the year of the ox is a good thing, it means you're a natural born le-ader" Phoebe paused as she walked into her room and saw all her furniture had been replaced with gym equipment. "What happened to my room?"

"Holy. I guess when Piper said she was gonna spread out, she wasn't kidding."

"But where's all my stuff? I mean, I have stuff, you know, lots and lots of stuff."

"Well, being an ox, I can take charge of this. You can borrow something from my room until we straighten this out." The two sisters marched off to Paige's room.

They walk in, only to find that Paige's furniture has been replaced with Wyatt's furniture. Leo, Chris and Wyatt were sitting in chairs in a comfortable silence for once.

"Oh, hi, baby!" Phoebe cried out in excitement at seeing her nephew.

"This one too?" Paige moans.

"Yeah, you move, you lose it in this family," Phoebe chuckled, glancing at Paige.

Chris looked at them sternly. "You could lose a lot more than a bedroom when this is over."

"Hi, Chris, I'm fine thank you, and you?" Phoebe stated, sarcastically.

"It's his job to offer his opinion," Leo offered in defense.

Chris looked at him. "You know the only reason why she's even here is Paige missed a vanquish."

"Another one?" Leo looked shocked.

"Yeah, that makes, what? Five in a row now?"

"You guys are such nags," Paige grumbled.

Phoebe glanced shrewdly back and forth between Leo and Chris. "When did you two become so chummy?"

"We're not chummy, it's just he's gone through a lot protecting Wyatt and I figured instead of doubting him I should help him a little," Leo admitted, feeling a little guilty.

"So what do you guys think? Do you like Wyatt's new room?" Piper asked her sisters as she walked in.

"I like it. I just like my room too," Paige muttered.

"And I like it, I just like my room too," Phoebe added on.

"Well, you guys were the ones that moved out, not me."

"So where are my clothes?" Phoebe asked.

\----------------------------------------------

"God, it's really kind of hitting home," Paige exclaimed as she lifted a sweater into her hands. Piper, Phoebe, and Paige were currently pulling clothes out of boxes in the attic.

"What's that?" Piper said, looking over at her sister.

"Well, that I don't live here anymore."

"I know what you mean," Phoebe said, sympathetically.

"Richard's just doesn't feel like home yet, you know? I don't know, I guess I just had more fun here."

"Yeah. 'Cause this place is a riot." Piper said, rolling her eyes.

"No, I just, I don't know, I guess I'm more free here. Free to be me."

"Oh, wow, Phoebe!" Piper exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of shoes from one of the boxes. "These are some boots."

"No, they're not mine, but I wish they were 'cause they're hot."

Paige spotted something on the box. "The box says 'Penny'. Penny as in Grams Penny?"

"No way," Phoebe shook her head. "I refuse to believe that Grams ever wore anything this hot."

Piper nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I figured her more for steel toed orthopaedics, you know, the better to kick your ass with."

"They're your size, Paige, try them on."

Paige groaned. "I don't know."

"Oh, come on, just do it."

"They're kind of sixties."

Phoebe glanced at Paige. "So what's wrong with the sixties?"

"The sixties was like the worst fashion era. Hello! Bad clothing, bad hair, and extremely questionable personal hygiene. Hey, they fit!" She said as she pulled on the boots. Barely a second passed after she had done so, when she suddenly disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Where'd she go?" Phoebe said, turning to look at Piper in surprise.

\----------------------------------------------

"What do you mean you lost Paige?" Chris said, confused.

"Well, it was really weird. I mean, one second she was here and the next second...poof," Phoebe tried to explain, unsuccessfully.

"It kind of happened after she put on a pair of Grams' boots," Piper chimed in.

"Grams used to cast a spell on her clothes when she was younger," Leo piped up.

Phoebe turned to Leo in shock. "Wait, you knew Grams when she was young?"

"Yeah, we crossed paths once or twice when I was a young Whitelighter."

"Eww," Piper exclaimed.

"Well, I barely remember it."

"Huh."

"Eww," Phoebe said.

Chris stood up and walked over to the Book of Shadows. "Well, if the boots did belong to your grandmother, then we better summon her from the dead. Maybe she can tell us what happened to Paige."

"Okay, let's get the candles."  
Phoebe was leaning over and lighting the candles when Piper spoke up again.

Piper sighed heavily. "You know, if I hadn't taken over Paige's room, this never would've happened. This is all my fault."

"What's done is done." Leo and Chris said at the same time.

"Okay, you two really need to get a room." Phoebe said gesturing to them.

They lit the candles and read the spell to bring back Grams.

"Here these words, here my cry, spirit from the other side, come to me, I summon thee, cross now the great divide."

The green goo seeped through the floor bed and slipped onto Chris's foot; multiplying rapidly until it covered his whole shoe.

"Well, it's about time you called to say hello. Oh, my darlings," Gram said happily as she stretched her hands out for a hug.

"Ah, we got a problem," Piper said, referring to Paige.

Grams looked towards Chris. "Well, you're not the only one." The green goo had risen up both of Chris's legs.

"Orb out," Leo suggested.

"No, magic makes it grow. Summoning her spirit already gave it power."

"Oh, you must be Chris, the new Whitelighter. You know, he doesn't look very qualified for the job." Grams observed.

"Chris, just let me blast it," Piper exclaimed.

Phoebe nodded her head, "she's right. Orb."

Grams threw her hands up. "Oh, for heaven sakes, listen to them. We'll find a way to vanquish the foul thing later.

Chris orbed out and Leo cried, "now!"

Piper blew up the goo and it scattered into a million pieces. As Chris orbed back in, the goo disappeared into the floorboards.

\----------------------------------------------

"You and Paige moved out? When?" Grams shouted in shock.

Phoebe shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Uh, a few weeks ago. But we're handling everything."

"Dear, you have a strange girl living in the basement, Paige stuck in the past, and a demonic blob roaming the manor. Exactly how are you handling things?"

"We're still in an adjustment period," Piper said in defense of her sisters.

"There would be no adjustment period if you were living under one roof. Why in heaven's name did you move out?"

"To be with Jason. You said it yourself, never give up on love, remember?" Phoebe said.

"I didn't say give up on your sisters," she looked at Piper. "And you! You're the oldest, how could you let them move out?"

"You know, it really wasn't that hard because they deserve a shot at a normal life."

"They're not normal, Piper, and neither are you. When are you going to learn that?"

"Well, I guess never."

"All this over men. How many times have I told you? Men are utensils. You use them, wash them, and throw them in a drawer until you need them again," Grams ranted.

"Shh. Everyone quiet," said Leo as he and Chris walked into the room. They listened to the house making strange noises. Chris put his ear up to the wall.

"I can hear it. I think it's in the wall." Just as he said this, a crack appeared.

"Yep, it's in the wall," Leo said, glancing nervously around the room.

"Okay, we're gonna need Paige. It took the power of three to vanquish this thing in the future," said Chris.

Piper looked up at him in surprise. "What? If you knew that, why didn't you tell me that in the first place?"

"Because I could barely get two of you together, let alone three. Besides, this thing's not that big right now and I thought two could handle it."

Grams shook her head at Chris. "Leo, you take point. Chris here is much too green to guide my girls."

"What? You know what? You can just stop that right..."

"Ah-ah! Quiet. It's time to give this floundering ship a rudder. Now, which boots did Paige put on?"

"Red go-go boots," Piper described.

"We've got a problem. Those boots took Paige back to the summer of love, which was one of the most crucial times of my life."

"What do you mean crucial?" Phoebe asked.

"Your grandfather, Allen, rest his soul, was a sweet man, but he lead me straight down the hippy-dippy trail."

"You were a flower child?" Phoebe laughed.

"Yeah, well, don't rub it in. What's important is that Allen was killed by my best friend. I didn't know it then, but she was evil. And I walked in right after it happened."

"What'd you do?" asked Piper

"Well, let's just say that my peacenik days ended fast, along with that bitch Robyn. If she hadn't killed Allen..."

"You'd still be a flower child." Leo chimed in.

"And the Charmed Ones would be dead. I know I'm a ball buster. But it kept me alive to protect my girls from all the demons that came after them as kids. I cast my return to owner spell on a lot of clothes that summer, so..."

"So we get to go back there? We get to meet our grandfather?" Phoebe said, excitedly.

"Don't make too much out of it because whatever you do, you can't change the past or tell anyone you're from the future."

"Well, why does he and Eliana get to?"

"Because I know what I'm doing," Chris said, completely ignoring her reference to Eliana. Over the past couple of weeks they hadn't talked at all. Every time she would walk into the same room, he would either glare at her until she left, or leave himself.

"Not from where I'm standing. I'll stay here with Leo and the two newbies to contain the slime, until you can bring Paige back to vanquish it, okay? Okay, go, get dressed. You are going to the summer of love."

\---------------------------------------------

"The way I see it, we're all targets for the slime. We need a plan to control it until the girls get back." Grams said after Leo had filled Eliana in on what she had missed. Chris had refused to look at her and she was staring quietly at the floor. Grams and Leo could sense the tension that hung in the air between the two but decided it was best to just ignore it.

"In the future, everyone tried to control the demon with no name. But it can't be done," Eliana said, finally speaking up.

"That's hardly a winning attitude, young lady. And why in heaven's name couldn't the people in the future find some name for that thing?"

"Speaking of the future, what's so awful that happens to Wyatt?" Leo asked Chris and Eliana. Eliana continued to look at the floor.

"You know I can't tell you that." Said Chris.

"Come on, I'm an Elder." Chris just shook his head. Leo looked at Eliana but she clasped her lips together and stared intently at the floor. She really wasn't good at lying.

"Excuse me, back on point. Uh, the slime? I'm taking suggestions," Grams exclaimed, looking at the three of them.

Wyatt, standing in his crib, reached for his bottle sitting on a table next to him. Eliana saw this and picked him up and handed him his bottle. He giggled at her as he began to drink thirstily, when he was finished, she set the bottle down again and he wrapped his tiny fingers around a strand of her hair; not yanking, just lightly tugging. She grinned down happily at him and lightly poked his nose. His tiny face wrinkled as he giggled again. When she next looked up, it was to find Leo and Chris staring at the two of them.

"Piper's right, you really do seem to have a way with him," Leo commented as he watched his son squeal happily in her arms.

Chris stared at them, his face stoney. While he had to admit that she had been pretty helpful around the house in the past few weeks, he still didn't trust her completely; not to mention, watching her play with little Wyatt only reminded him of her connection to him. He felt a tiny twinge of pain in his heart as he watched them, knowing that she'd never be his, but then realized what he was thinking and brought the conversation back to what possible ways they could get rid of the slime.

"We could orb it to an ice drift," suggested Leo.

"Nah, that's bad," Chris replied.

Grams looked at them critically. "It's not bad, it's awful. You can't orb that thing, it feeds on magic."

"So what's your great idea?" Chris said, sarcastically.

"Are you giving me lip?"

"No - No!" Chris yelled.

Just then, Wyatt had orbed a vase of flowers into Eliana's free hand. At first she smiled at the sweet gesture, then her face fell as she realized what he'd done. The slime demon shot out of the wall as she clutched him close to her chest and dashed out of the room.

"Hold on. I think it's stopped," Leo called out as he chased after her.

Chris ran in after them and yelled, "get Wyatt out of the house. If it tries to follow, I'll fire off an orb or two to distract it." He looked at Grams, "you okay with that?"

"Yeah, it's just what I had in mind."

"Good."

"You mean your gonna let me out of the house finally?" Eliana muttered, half-jokingly. Chris glared at her but didn't say anything.

Leo and Eliana moved towards the door. Before they could open it, however, green slime oozed up into the windows, blocking off the doorway.

"What'd it do? Split in half?" Leo exclaimed.

"How do we get out?" Eliana asked nervously. She hugged Wyatt protectively. It wasn't that she couldn't handle herself, but she had heard stories about the slime thingy from Wyatt when they were growing up, and it hadn't sounded good. Even if she had her magic it wouldn't have helped and stabbing or physically fighting the slime certainly wouldn't accomplish anything!

"I don't know. Orb?" Suggested Leo.

"The last time I orbed, that thing almost swallowed me whole,"Chris said, shaking his head.

"What do you think, Penny?" The three of them turned to look at Grams. She was standing in the doorway wearing tie-dyed sixties clothing.

"I think love conquers all. I think that we should take the demon into our arms and make it feel safe."

Chris looked at Leo, "Leo, could I talk to you two for a second, please?" He couldn't bring himself to say Eliana's name.

Nevertheless, she knew he was including her in his question and handed Wyatt over to Grams. "Do you mind holding him for a second?"

"Of course! Come here, moonbeam."

"Wyatt. His name's Wyatt." Said Eliana, miffed. She walked towards Leo and Chris to hear him say,

"One of the sisters must have changed the past because Penny clearly never made the change from flower child to demon hunter." In the background, they could hear Grams singing to Wyatt.

"Clearly. Think the girls can fix the timeline and get back here?" Leo asked.

"I don't know. But this thing is trying to back us into a corner. Take Wyatt and Joan Baez here into the conservatory. I'll get what we need to fight it off."

"Do you need any help?" Eliana asked quietly. Chris looked at her sharply. He hadn't expected her to offer. He wanted to say no, but he had to admit, an extra hand would be useful.

"Actually, yes, yes that would be great. You can help carry some things." Chris grabbed a blender and handed it to her. Together they set about piling up as many kitchen appliances as the could.

"Why isn't it attacking? It's like it cornered us and now it's just waiting." Leo pointed out as he walked back in.

"I think we need the toaster oven. Chris said, not bothering to answer the question.

"You know, that's a disaster waiting to happen," Said Grams as she walked back in with Wyatt.

"That's the idea," explained Chris. "you saw how the slime reacted to electricity. Well, if we can get it to attack this pile, maybe we can get to zap it."

"No offence, you know, but my dear Allen would have taken the path of peaceful resistance. Have you tried talking to the slime?"

"No, I haven't, and you shouldn't either." Leo turned to look at Chris and Eliana. "But if either of you two are up to some light conversation, maybe you wanna tell me what happens to Wyatt in the future!"

Chris shook his head at Leo. "Uh, nice try. - Damn it!" Leo had plugged in the cords to all the machines and the power had blown out.

"I told you, boys, violence is not the answer to anything," Gram tutted.

Chris sighed in frustration, "where's the fuse box?"

Leo pointed downstairs. "It's in the basement. Find a flashlight in the laundry room."

Chris walked over to the top of the stairs to the basement. He pointed the flashlight at the floor and jumped back in shock. "Leo!"

"What is it? What is it?"

"The slime, in the basement feeding on the Nexus."

"How big was it?" Leo opened the door and shined the flashlight on the floor. The slime was covering the entire floor. Leo quickly shut the door. "Big."

"Yeah. Big."

Eliana glanced around the room and grabbed two wires. "If the demon comes at us, I'll try and hold it off with this." She said. While she worked on making sure the wires sparked, Grams opened the basement door and walked in.

"Don't be afraid of us. We won't hurt you."

"Penny, get back!" Eliana cried out. She shoved Grams out of the way and felt herself get tugged down into the basement with the slime.

\----------------------------------------------

"Wyatt's secured in the living room. There's no sign of the demon in the rest of the house." Said Leo.

"I figured it was distracting us before so he could feed on Nexus."

"What about Eliana is she...?"

"I don't know." Chris furrowed his brows in confusion. He couldn't believe that Eliana had rescued Grams - I mean, she had just risked her own life to save someone who was already dead. Why the hell would she do that? Unless...unless she really was here to help, but he just couldn't see why she would.

The slime crept under the door and Chris grabbed two wires and zapped it. Another chunk of slime crept under the door and he zapped it again. "I can't keep up with it, we've gotta get out."

"No, we have to keep fighting. It's what Eliana would want us to do." Who cares what she'd want us to do Chris thought to himself.

Chris continued to try and hold off the slime but it was no use. Eventually Leo gave in. "Get out of here, go."

"Not without you and Penny!"

"This thing's gonna swallow you whole."

"Most likely."

Suddenly, Piper, Phoebe and Paige appeared in the kitchen.

"Stand back, fellas," Piper called out.

"Drawing on the power of three, destroy this evil entity."

The slime demon exploded in a flash of light.

"Where's Wyatt?" Piper asked.

"He's in the living room with Penny."

"What about Eliana." Said Phoebe.

Leo looked down, "she didn't make it."

The basement door opened and smoke poured out. Eliana walked out, coughing.

"Nonsense. It's gonna take a lot more than that to take me out!"

They heard the sound of Wyatt crying out and Piper rushed out to see her baby.

"Hey there, sun god." Paige said, sidling up to Leo.

"Hey, that was a long time ago. Let's just keep that between us, okay?"

Eliana stood there feeling awkward so she went out to join Piper and see if there was anything else she could help out with.

(Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Next one will be coming soon!)


	5. Revelations

Chris's POV

"So why exactly did you save Penny?" I asked Eliana as we passed in the hall. "She's a ghost, why risk dying for someone who's already dead! I swear if this is just another trick of yours to try and get me to trust you, it won't work!" I glared down at her. She was only 5"3 so I stood roughly 4-5 inches higher than her (don't remember how tall he actually is so don't pay too much attention to that!).

"No it was not just an act to get you to trust me, I know you don't think very highly of me but I'm not that conniving! I don't know why I did it! I just saw what was about to happen and reacted on instinct - it didn't even occur to me that she was already dead; I mean she had a corporeal form at the time! So sorry to disappoint you but there wasn't some big conspiracy behind it. Your welcome by the way..." She glared at me then walked out of the room, my eyes trailing after her as I thought over what she'd just said.

Did I believe her? It seemed like she was telling the truth...not to mention, if she had meant to do it, she would've known that it wouldn't have gotten me to trust her anyways...but still - I just can't comprehend any reason she could possibly have for wanting to help.

I shook my head and walked off to help the sisters return Grams to where she belonged. Afterwards, we all gathered around and sat at the dinner table; Eliana sitting with Baby Wyatt on her lap as she fed him. I looked over to see Phoebe and Paige watching the two of them intently.

"Piper was right, Wyatt seems to really like you, he's trying so hard to get your attention. It's almost as though he's trying to impress you!" Phoebe laughed as we all watched Wyatt orb the bowl of mashed potatoes to Eliana; she had tried reaching for it, but hadn't been able to get to it with him sitting on her lap. He giggled and tugged on her hair.

"Yeah, he still does...has done? Will do? - ugh, you know what I mean!" She laughed as she beamed down at Baby Wyatt and gently pried his fingers out of her hair. As happy as she looked, I thought I heard a hint of sadness in her statement.

"You mean you two know each other in the future?" Paige gasped.

"Yeah, I do live with him after all - I've been his girlfriend for the last two years," Eliana explained, chuckling at the astonished looks on the sisters faces as their eyes widened in shock. "Can't seem to get rid of him..." She said it jokingly, but I got the feeling that she wasn't.

"Wha - you're - he - huh!" Piper stuttered as Leo clapped her on the back to stop her from choking.

"Wow, he must really love you a lot!" Piper exclaimed as she stared Eliana down; looking at her in a new light.

"What do you mean?" Said Eliana, tilting her head to the side in confusion.

"I mean, he must really love and trust you for you two to be already living together!"

"I've known him since I was little - spent all my time here with you guys, actually. Besides, he's twenty three, Piper! He can do what he wants, whether you like it or not. In fact, he does do whatever he wants!" I glanced up sharply as her tone darkened dramatically. I hadn't expected her to ever talk about him with such a spiteful tone in her voice! It almost sounded like she despised 'Lord' Wyatt as much as I did; which was preposterous.

If she did, then she wouldn't still be with Him...she'd be with me - I shook my head as I realized what I had just thought. I did NOT want to be with her! I wanted Bianca not Eliana! Besides, it didn't matter who I wanted anyways. Neither option was possible anymore now that Bianca was dead. I forced the thoughts out of my mind and tried to focus back on the conversation.

" - so what do you two do in the future exactly?" Paige was asking.

I met Eliana's eyes and tried to warn her to keep her mouth shut.

"Um...well...I'm not sure I should say...future consequences -" I breathed a sigh of relief as the sisters groaned at the familiar expression.

"Oh come on! Can't a mother get at least a little hint as to how her only son's future turns out?" Piper pleaded. Eliana glanced at me again before looking back to Piper.

"Well...to be honest Piper, I don't exactly know half the things He does. He doesn't exactly talk to me anymore -unless he needs me to do something for him...which you really don't need to know about; considering Chris here already told you what I do -" she broke off as our eyes met across the table again.

"Wait, are you implying that my sweet little son comes to you in the future to have people killed?! That's crazy! He would never do that! My son is good! how dare you suggest -" I stood up abruptly and glared at Eliana. She opened her mouth but then suddenly bit down on her lip as her expression changed to one of pain. My brows furrowed in confusion as we watched her open and close her mouth as she squirmed uncomfortably in her chair. It almost looked like some invisible force was stopping her from speaking. I was suddenly reminded of something I had read about in the Book of Shadows but only ever encountered once. I narrowed my eyes and examined her more closely as a horrible thought popped into my head.

He would never use that spell on her! The one time I'd seen Him use it on someone it had rendered them an unrecognizable babbling shell of a person in less than 10 minutes! 20 minutes later he had been driven so insane by the pain and inability to speak that he had killed himself - and once again I had found myself staring at the dead body of a close friend; killed by his desire to help me. Without a word of explanation, I dashed out of the room and up to the attic; hoping that the entry had already been written in this time period. I flipped through the Book frantically searching until I finally landed on the page I needed:

The Tongue-Tying Jinx,

Used when the caster does not desire information to be revealed. If cast, the spell will cause the desired target physical pain whenever they try to speak about whatever topic the caster does not want spoken - can be altered to meet the caster's specific desires and even thinking about the forbidden subject will cause the target pain if the caster is powerful enough - No known counter jinx. Be warned, this spell can be deadly if the target's willpower to speak is too strong. When this happens, the jinx will triple in power and can drive the person insane or to the point where they can't take it any longer and kill themselves.

I read the entry over and over again as I remembered the way Ben had died. It hadn't been pleasant to watch; especially since I had known it was my fault. It had been on my orders that Ben had gone undercover - I hadn't liked it, but we had needed someone on the ground who could pass us information on His plans - and Ben had been the most suited for the job.

For months he was able to send us the information that we needed to counter His raids on our strongholds but unfortunately, someone on our side must have turned traitor and told Him about Ben. It wasn't long before myself and those I had been with at the time, had been captured and watched Ben get tortured for going against Him.

Somehow, we had managed to escape that night and it wasn't long afterwards that I had started getting the anonymous letters from the Shadow Queen. I still had no idea who they were, but without their help, I would never have been able to keep the Resistance alive.

After rereading the page for about the fifth time, I finally closed it shut and went back downstairs thinking about the best way to approach the situation. I still couldn't believe that my brother would ever use it on Eliana; especially after seeing what had happened to Ben, but if he had, then the sisters and I definitely needed to know before we tried to force information out of her. If not done carefully, we could end up killing her before getting anything useful out of her to help us better protect Baby Wyatt.


	6. Prince Charmed

Eliana's POV

"What's up?" I said, looking at Phoebe and Paige as they walked down into my basement bedroom. I had made some changes since first arriving;  
thanks to Piper letting me bring down a few things from the attic, and it almost felt like a normal room.

"Here's the deal, I'm planning a surprise birthday party for Piper but Paige and I need to go out and get some supplies. Since both of us have to go, we need you to make sure that Piper stays on the second floor so we can put everything away in secret when we get back. Do you think you can do that for us?" Phoebe asked as she joined me on the makeshift bed I had made. It wasn't much; just a simple mattress with a few blankets and pillows, but it worked well enough.

"Yeah, I'd be happy to do what I can to help! But - I'm not exactly allowed up on the second floor, remember? How do you expect me to keep track of her?"

I looked back and forth between Phoebe and Paige, not daring to let myself hope. As much as I liked the first floor of the house, I was tired of being restricted to it. This place had always been like my home growing up and it felt weird to have to walk on eggshells everywhere I went. I couldn't imagine what Chris was going through by being forced to stay at P3!

Though I guess they had good reason to keep me down in the basement...I was planning to try and sneak up to the Book of Shadows if I ever got the chance - just not for the reasons they all thought. I just wanted to see if there was anything about a counter-spell to a certain jinx! No harm in that! I held my breath as I waited for them to give me an answer.

"Well...I guess you can have permission to leave the first floor - but only while we are away and just to keep track of Piper! Once we get back the restrictions are back! Got it!" Paige said slowly.

My pulse quickened as I tried to contain my glee. It looked like I might finally be getting the chance I needed to look up the information!

"Got it!" I said nodding with a serious expression on my face to let them know I understood the terms.

I followed them up the stairs and closed the door behind them. The minute I heard the sounds of their cars fade, I was dashing up the stairs and into to the attic.

I flipped frantically through the pages looking for anything that might help me. My face fell as I landed on the entry I needed and read the words: "no known counter jinx."

"I knew it!" A voice said quietly. My heart froze as I slowly looked up to see Chris standing before me.

"Please, Chris! You have to let me explain! I swear, I'm not trying to hurt anyone! Phoebe and Paige gave me permission to leave the first floor!" I tried to explain as quickly as I could. I had no doubt in my mind that this was not going to end well for me.

"This isn't exactly what they meant though, is it?" Chris said, still speaking in that annoyingly calm way of his. It was never good when he used it - it was always a sign that he was plotting something. And he thought I was the secretive one!

"I know, I know, but please, it's not what it looks like! I just needed to see if there was - I was only trying - I need a - I wasn't looking up anything harmful just - He put a - I only wanted to see - damn it!" I hissed and bit my lip as pain shot through my body every time I tried to explain the situation. I opened and closed my mouth several times as I tried to find the right wording but it didn't seem possible and I finally gave up.

There was a long silence as Chris stood staring at me with a strange look on his face. He glanced down at the Book of Shadows and another emotion I couldn't read flashed across his face.

"We won't speak of this - for now - but don't think you're getting off so easily, I won't forget. We just don't have time to deal with this right now. Go check on Piper; I need the Book for myself right now - oh, and if I see you up here again without my permission - there will be consequences."

I didn't argue, just counted myself lucky that nothing seemed to be happening yet. I was halfway out of the room, when I realized what he'd said.

"Wait, so you trust me enough to keep Wyatt and Piper safe? What changed your mind - not that I'm complaining."

"Trust is not the word I would use, but yes, I think I can count on you enough to not want anything to happen to them. If it did, you wouldn't have a future to return to after all - whether you're really here to help or not, you wouldn't risk tampering with the timeline by hurting or letting anything happen them," with that said, Chris started flipping through the Book and I knew I was being dismissed.

I walked down the stairs and headed towards Baby Wyatt's bedroom, sensing that there was something wrong going on there.

"Wyatt!" I heard Piper cry out as I entered the room in time to see a demon standing by Wyatt's crib. The demon turned around and raised his arms to throw an energy ball at Piper. He hadn't even notice me enter and I took advantage of the fact. In the few seconds it took him to create the energy ball, I had managed to slide behind him and stood there unnoticed as I quickly thought through my options. There was a very simple way for me to get rid of the demon but I had to keep that secret to myself. No one knew; not even Wyatt, and I wanted to keep it that way. So instead, I reached my hands up and quickly twisted the demon's neck to one side; breaking the bones with a loud snap. It wasn't enough to kill a demon but it gave Piper the time she needed to use her own power to blow him up. As she did so, the demon dropped a wand on the floor. Before either of us could pick it up though, it had disappeared in a flash of light.

I looked at Baby Wyatt as his shield went down and Piper ran to pick him up. "Hey. It's okay. It's okay, it's okay," she whispered as she cradled him in her arms. "Thanks for the help, Eliana," she said, looking at me intently. I recognized the look, it was one I got all the time in the future whenever people saw the speed and ferocity that I was capable of. "Not that I don't appreciate it, but what are you doing up here? You aren't allowed up here!" Her eyes narrowed in suspicion.

I lifted my hands up in front of me as I tried to explain without giving away the surprise. "Phoebe and Paige gave me permission so I could keep an eye on you while they were out - it's only until they get back, so don't worry! I'll be out of your hair soon." I cut Piper off as she opened her mouth to respond. " - Wyatt still looks a little scared, our focus should be on calming him down right now," she nodded in agreement as I went over and pulled out a book from one of the shelves; the story of King Arthur.

I knew it was Baby Wyatt's favorite story. I handed the book to Piper as she sat down on one of the chairs and opened it up to the first page. I placed Baby Wyatt in my lap and he began to tug on my hair; one of his favorite things to do apparently, as Piper started to read aloud.

As the story unfurled, I couldn't help laughing at the irony of the situation, but knew enough to keep my mouth shut. While Chris had explained at one point that the sisters now knew Baby Wyatt was the 'new' King Arthur after having helped the Lady of the Lake rescue Excalibur from demons, I was not going to be the one to reveal to them just how horrible of a 'King' he turned out to be. It was not my place - nor would they believe me.

\----------------------------------------------

"Paige, the groceries, Phoebe cried out as I gestured wildly to her to let her know that Piper was on her way downstairs. Paige grabbed the bags and orbed out. "Hey," Phoebe said to Piper cheerfully, trying to act normal.

"Hey, how's that surprise party going?" Piper replied, not buying it for one minute. I shrugged my shoulders apologetically at Phoebe and mouthed an apology. She nodded in understanding as the two of us raced into the kitchen after Piper.

"Wh-What do you mean, surprise party? There's no surprise party!" Phoebe said, still trying to play it off.

"Just do me a favour and don't invite Greg. Or any other guys for that matter, because I'm done with them."

"I'm sorry?" Paige piped up as she stood up from where she had been quickly stuffing bags into one of the cupboards.

"It's kind of an epiphany I had, um, right after I vanquished a demon in Wyatt's room."

"Wait, excuse me?" Phoebe looked back and forth between Piper and I in confusion.

"You know, an epiphany, a revelation."

"No, I know about the epiphany. What do you mean a demon?"

"Okay, why didn't you call us?" Paige added as she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at us.

"Well, I didn't want to bother you. It's no big deal, Eliana broke his neck and I blew him up, he's gone."

"Okay, do you know every time you say that, they come back with a vengeance?" Paige pointed out as she and Phoebe looked at me in surprise upon hearing about my part in the matter.

"Kiss of death," Phoebe agreed.

"It doesn't matter because I'm on it full-time now. I'm actually thinking of selling the club, 'cause I have a new mission in life and it's all become very clear to me." We all looked at Piper.

"Would you care to elaborate?" Said Paige.

"Do you guys know that Wyatt called me mama?"

"He did? Oh, his first word!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Right after he was attacked. I don't think I'm gonna be putting that in his baby book," Piper shook her head and left the kitchen; Phoebe, Paige, and I following.

"Back to giving up guys," Paige said.

"It's kind of freeing, actually, you know, not having to play the dating game. It was just a big waste of time for me anyway. I mean, I gave it my best shot, I did. But it just didn't work out for me.

"Okay, that is completely ridiculous. You've been single for six months!" Paige cried out.

"No, that's fate, it's my fate, and I accept it. Apparently you only get one soul mate in a life time, so I guess Leo was mine. And now I'm ready to devote my life to protecting and raising Wyatt.

"What about sex?" Phoebe interjected.

"Well, you know, I'm the mother of one of the most magical creatures ever. Sex rather pales in comparison, don't you think?" Piper said, before turning around and walking out.

Paige glanced at Phoebe and I, "she doesn't need a party, she needs an intervention.

\----------------------------------------------

"Okay, Piper couldn't find the demon in the book. Any luck in here?" Phoebe asked, as she walked into the kitchen where Paige and I were standing over the stove.

"Uh, actually, we're working on something else." Paige told her.

" A vanquishing potion?"

"No. A birthday present," Paige said, slowly.

"A birthday present. Paige, you're not going to be able to find the charm bracelet." I looked at Phoebe in confusion but before she could explain, Paige spoke up.

"Trust me, this will be even better. The perfect gift."

"Okay, what are you talking about?" Phoebe looked at her sister in confusion as I giggled in anticipation of her reaction.

"I figured Piper has no love in her life right now, so I think she needs a little love back in her life."

"Okay, so you're making a love potion?"

"No, I'm making a love machine. I am making the perfect man."

"Are you kidding me? Are you out of your mind?"

"No. I don't think I am. Listen, we've conjured magical beings before, so, you know, hey, what's the big deal?"

"The big deal is they always come back to bite us in the ass," Phoebe cried out as she glared at Paige.

"Hey, keep me out of this! It was all Paige's idea! I'm just here because I have nothing else to do but sit in my room, which gets boring after awhile," I stated as Phoebe turned her gaze to me.

"No-no-no-no. This one won't. He'd just be around for her birthday from midnight to midnight."

"Paige, you can't just conjure up a sex toy."

"Listen, I figure magic owes Piper. It has taken away the love of her life, and now it's threatening to take away love from the rest of her life. Look, I get Wyatt is super important, I do get that. But I think this could be for the greater good."

"Mm-hm."

After a few minutes, I could that that Phoebe was starting to give in to Paige's reasoning.

"Okay, let's write down some qualities," Paige declared once her sister had finally given in.

"Qualities, what do you mean qualities?"

"You know, qualities for the perfect man," I explained to Phoebe.

"Oh. Okay, well, I think she would want someone that, um, lives near by and, you know, doesn't travel a lot," Phoebe suggested as I went over and grabbed us all pens and paper.

"Yeah, well, I would write down something about somebody who I could do magic in front of, but these are you qualities you and I would want, not qualities that Piper would necessarily want." Paige argued.

"Right, okay, um. I think she wants, you know, a strong man but someone that's not afraid to show his sensitive side," Phoebe said, after some thought.

"Sensitive but not a wuss bag," added Paige, writing it down and tossing the slip of paper into the potion.

" - someone that is a good listener," I stated as I tossed a piece of paper in as well.

"Okay, good cook..." said Paige.

"Handy around the house," Phoebe cried out.

"Good with kids," I chimed in.

"Gets the whole normal life thing," Phoebe added.

"Has a really big..." I said as I began to write something down on another slip of paper.

"Eliana!" Phoebe cried out as she stared at me in shock.

"Uh, is this the perfect guy or what?"

"Alright, throw it in." Phoebe said, seeing my point. "Aren't you a little young to be thinking about that kind of thing, missy?" She said, giving me a stern look.

"Oh, please! I'm 21! It's not like Wyatt and I haven't -" I froze as I realized what I was revealing. I shivered in fear as memories washed over me. I shook my head and forced them out. Chris and I were here in the past to make sure He didn't turn evil. I had to hope that by doing so, it would change things in that department as well.

"Okay - stop right there young lady! We do not need to hear anymore!" Phoebe said, scrunching up her face and shaking her head. I burst out laughing as Paige and Phoebe shared horrified looks at the thought of their baby nephew 'growing up'.

\----------------------------------------------

Chris's POV

"How am I supposed to protect Wyatt if you don't tell me when a demon attacks until hours later?" I cried out in frustration as Piper joined me in the attic.

"Because, Chris, I'm taking care of it"

"That's fine, but what happens if this demon was the one? The one who was after Wyatt. The reason why I came back," I continued to stare down at the faces of the different demons, not able to look at my mother. Ever since I had come back, it had hurt every time I made eye contact with her. So I tried to do it as little as possible.

"Well, then you're in luck because Eliana snapped his neck and I blew him up. Not to mention, how many demons have you said that about so far?" I frowned as I heard her mention Eliana, but decided to reflect on it later. At least she had used her 'skills' to do as I had asked for once.

"Piper, I've just got Wyatt's best interest in mind," I tried to explain again.

"So do I -" she took the book from me and flipped through it herself, "demon's not in here," she declared as she finished going through it.

"Well, what's it look like?"

"Tall, robed with a metal rod thingy."

"Really? Well, that narrows it down," I said, rolling my eyes.

"If another one shows up I'll be here."

"That's just my point, Piper, what if you're not here? What happens if you have a date with the fireman or whoever else you're seeing this week?" I couldn't keep my contempt out of my voice as I said this. As much as I disliked Leo for the way he treated me, I couldn't bare to see my mom with anyone else!

"Look, Chris, I don't want to go into it. But I'm not gonna be out on a date with the fireman or anybody else for that matter, anytime soon, so that I can focus more on Wyatt."

I blinked at her words, "what?"

"Did I stutter?"

"Piper, you can't give up on love. Ever!" I frowned. Not only would this mean I would never be born, but I didn't like the idea of her being alone.

"Why not?"

"Because you just can't, that's why. It's not natural. Look, all I'm saying is you don't have to make that type of sacrifice to protect Wyatt. That's why I'm here."

"Well, you weren't here earlier, were you? Look, the only thing that matters right now is what's best for Wyatt."

"This is not what's best for Wyatt, Piper!" I exclaimed.

"How do you know?"

"Because, I've seen the future and this isn't supposed to happen."

"So what is supposed to happen?"

I mentally kicked myself for walking right into that one. "Come on, you know I can't answer that."

"Well, since you're sent from the future to change it, maybe this is one of the things that needs to be changed."

"No, it's not. Believe me, it's not." I glanced down to hide the tears that had sprung to my eyes, and followed her into Baby Wyatt's room.

"Shhh," Piper cooed as she ruffled Baby Wyatt's hair. "Who left this?" She said, spotting a present that had been left on the table next to the crib.

"Look, if you're so concerned about protecting Wyatt, there's other ways to go about doing it, you know," I told her, another idea popping into my head.

"Like what?" Piped asked as she opened the letter next to the present;  
which had turned out to be a charm bracelet.

"Like letting Leo take him up there for a while." I moved closer to the crib only to have Baby Wyatt put his shield up. I looked quickly at Piper as I backed away. She hadn't seen. "You could always bind his powers."

"Leo left me a birthday present. How sweet," said Piper, not paying attention.

"Will you think about what I said?" I asked in irritation.

"About what?"

"About binding Wyatt's powers."

Piper finally looked up from the card. "No way!"

"Why not? Nobody would ever be after him and you'd have your life back," I insisted.

"But that would be selfish of me, wouldn't it? Put my needs before his destiny. I'm not being a martyr, Chris, I'm not. I just get it now. I'm the mother of a very special child that if I do my job right, will grow up to do very special things. What could possibly be more important than that?"

I decided to let the matter rest, but now that the idea was in my head, I was determined to find a way to make it happen.

\----------------------------------------------

Eliana's POV

"Okay, I can't think of anything else," Phoebe stated as the potion bubbled on the stove.

"One more thing," said Paige, picking up a bottle. "Magical pheromones."

"Magical pheromones?" Phoebe looked at Paige in confusion. I brought a hand to my mouth to hide the goody grin that now plastered my face.

"Yeah, see, it's just one thing to give him an extra shot, to help Piper be a little more receptive since he's only got a day." Paige explained.

"I hope we're doing the right thing, I hope this doesn't backfire, you know." Phoebe said, looking worried.

Paige looked confident as she said, "I don't think it will. If this were a date, honey, this would be the martini."

"Okay." The two of them picked up the sheet of paper that Paige had copied the spell onto and recited:

A perfect man we summon now, another way we don't know how, to make our sister see the light, some where out there is mister right.

We all gasped as magical lights rose out of the potion and floated to the center of the room. A naked man suddenly appeared and turned to face Phoebe and Paige.

"Hello."

"Perfect," we all said, looking at the man before us.

\----------------------------------------------

"Okay, so, remember she's gonna freak," said Paige as she led our creation up the stairs to Piper's room.

"Big time!" Phoebe added.

"So you just get as close as you can to her..." Paige continued.

"Yeah, really, really, really close," Phoebe exclaimed as she nudged the man.

"And just let those pheromones do their magic," Paige explained.

"So you can do your magic," Phoebe finished.

I giggled as I thought about how Piper was going to react. I couldn't wait to see it. There was no way she was going to like this!

"Ladies, ladies, please. You created me to know exactly what Piper wants. Don't worry." He took a deep breath and walked into the room. "Happy birthday, Piper. Eggs benedict, easy yolk. Steamed asparagus, fresh fruit, orange juice, no pulp. How do I do?" I heard him say from where we were hiding.

"Phoebe! Paige!" I chuckled as Phoebe and Paige peered guiltily around the door.

"Yeah?"

"Wh-What's going on? Who is this?"

"Well, uh, this is your birthday present. From me. Although, you know, Phoebe helped, and so did Eliana, a little," Paige said, hesitantly.

"The breakfast?" Piper asked in confusion.

"No, the muchacho," Phoebe clarified as she wiggles her brows.

"You, you, you hired a guy for my birthday?"

"No, we would never hire a guy for your birthday!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"We made him. Magically," Said Paige.

Phoebe looked at the pissed expression of Piper's face and backpedaled. "Ah, you know what? This is Paige's present for you. Mine's the surprise birthday party!"

"Traitor!" I heard Paige hiss at Phoebe as we all chased after Piper; who had stormed out of the room.

"You should have used more pheromones!" I said, still chuckling.

"Piper, wait!" Paige called out.

"No, not until you send him back to wherever the hell you conjured him from."

"We can't, not until your birthday's over." Said Paige.

"Yeah, so why not take advantage of him while you can. I mean, figuratively speaking of course," Phoebe hurried to correct her statement.

"Ah, hell, literally. It is your birthday!" Paige argued. I burst into a giggling fit again. I know, not very mature of me, but still, the situation was funny! What can I say, I haven't lost my sense of humor yet, like Chris has. Being able to laugh was one of the few things that had kept me going when things were really bad, and I wasn't about to stop just because it made me seem like a child!

"I can't believe you guys did this. Did you not hear me yesterday?" Piper shouted.

"No, we did, loud and clear, we just wanted you to change your mind."

"So you whipped up a magical gigolo?"

"Oh, criminy, just give him a chance!" Said Paige, rolling her eyes.

"How could you resist him? Did you look at him?" Phoebe added.

"This is like something we would do years ago before we knew better, but now we do know better, at least we're supposed to."

"You know what? Desperate times call for desperate measures." Paige pushed the man into Piper, who caught her as she almost fell down.

Piper tried to stay mad but couldn't resist the pheromones and eventually she had agreed to taking Baby Wyatt out to the zoo.

\----------------------------------------------

3rd Person POV

"Fly to New York right now, Jason? Oh, you're so cute, I would love to but..." Phoebe said, as she talked to her boyfriend on the phone.

"But she's busy setting a demonic alarm system." Paige finished for her as she walked into the room.

"No, she said we're busy watching a mechanic set up an alarm system. You know us girls, can never be too careful. Baby, can I call you back later? Okay, I love you too. Bye. Cute, very cute." Phoebe glared at her sister.

"Just trying to help."

"What, are you trying to blow my secret?"

"Well, you said yourself you're gonna have to tell him sooner or later."

"Yeah, but I want to be the one to tell him, not AT&T. Hey, why are you in such a good mood?"

"Well, it's nice to practice magic without feeling guilty. I guess we all have guy problems, right?" Just then, Chris orbed in with Leo.

"Where's Piper?" Leo asked.

"Uh, she's out. Why?" Answered Phoebe.

"Because we know who attacked Wyatt and we think they're gonna attack again," explained Chris.

"Who?"

"A demonic cult called the Order. They used to be the most powerful force until their leader was vanquished, " Leo began.

"And guess what. They think he's been reincarnated," Chris picked up one of Baby Wyatt's rattles.

"Wyatt?" Paige exclaimed in shock.

"He's young enough to be turned evil. Especially by them. Where is Wyatt? Is he with Piper?" Leo turned as they heard the front door open.

"Anybody home? A little help here!" Piper called out.

"Where have you been?" Leo asked, worried.

"Well, everywhere, actually. First we went shopping and then we went for a boat ride and then we had a picnic in a park, and then we stopped at the fair."

Leo looked at his former wife. "Piper?"

"Huh?"

"Where's Wyatt?"

"Oh, he's coming."

The man who had been conjured by Paige and Phoebe pushed Wyatt in his stroller through the front door as Leo and Chris stared at him in suspicion.

"Who are you?" Leo said, coldly.

"Uh, he's, he's, you know, just a date." Phoebe stuttered as she tried to explain.

Chris and Leo looked at Piper for more information.

"A guy," Paige added, unhelpfully.

Piper turned to look at the man. "You know, you don't have a name yet, do you?"

"What does that mean, he doesn't have a name?" Chris exclaimed.

"Why not call me David. You've always liked that name, no?"

"No. I mean, yes. Isn't he perfect?" Piper said as Paige and Phoebe sighed.

Leo looked at the three sisters, "what the hell's going on here?"

"You don't have to feel threatened by me, Leo. No one will ever replace you in Wyatt's eyes. And Piper wouldn't want anyone to," David said.

"Phoebe, Paige?" Leo turned to look at Phoebe and Paige desperately as Piper and David lead Baby Wyatt out of the room to clean his hands.

"Alright, fine, so I made him out of my own little brew!" Paige cried out as Leo continued to stare at them.

"You what?"

"Piper was gonna give up on love, on her birthday nonetheless!" Phoebe added.

"So you conjured a man?"

"No, not just a man, the perfect man. See, he's somebody who knows exactly what she wants and he's just gonna be here long enough to straighten her out."

"Twenty-four hours, that's it.. That's great, right?" Phoebe tried to play it off, but she could tell Leo was hurt by their actions.

"Yeah, not even twenty-four, really eight and then sadly he goes poof."

"Yeah. You don't want her to live life without love, do you Leo?"

"We'll talk about this later after we deal with the Order."

Just then, Darryl walked in through the front door. "Is this a bad time? I just wanted to drop this off," he said, holding up a tube.

"Darryl, why didn't you just wait till dinner?" Paige exclaimed.

"Dinner. Actually, this is for Wyatt so he has a little something to open up too," no one noticed the demon stutter as he tried to cover his mistake. "Ah, Sheila's idea, actually. You mind if I give it to him?" He added as Phoebe made to take the tube away from him.

"Oh, sure, yeah, they're upstairs."

"Thanks."

"Don't you think maybe we should cancel the dinner party?" Said Chris as they watched Darryl walk up the stairs.

"No," Paige stated.

A few minutes later, Eliana walked into the room and joined them. "We need to talk. Wyatt may be in danger."

"What!" Everyone cried out at her words.

"I don't know exactly, but I sense that there's a demon in the house, please don't ask me how. Point is, you need to get to Wyatt!" She walked back out of the room as the others dashed up the stairs.

When they got there, they saw a robed demon pointing a wand at Wyatt as a light poured out of the wand. When they entered the room, the demon dropped the wand and vanished.

"Is he okay?" Leo exclaimed as Piper ran to their son. "Did he hurt him?"

"No, I think he's okay."

\----------------------------------------------

"Darryl?" Phoebe asked as Leo orbed back into the manor an hour or so later.

"He's okay. He said they didn't go anywhere near him."

"Oh, thank god."

"My question is how did they even know to impersonate him?" Paige asked.

"Well, they must have been watching you. See who he trusted and let near him," Leo explained.

"That's really creepy!" Phoebe declared.

"It's gonna get a lot creepier if we don't stop them from getting to Wyatt, Chris chimed in.

"We might have a thought about that," said Piper as she walked in carrying Baby Wyatt in her arms and David following behind.

"We?" Leo glared at David.

"Yeah, well, we've been talking and I think we need to give Chris's idea another chance."

"What idea?"

"About binding Wyatt's powers."

"What?" Phoebe, Paige, and Leo shouted.

"Well, I'm just saying we should consider it. I mean, if you think about it, it makes sense."

Leo looked at Piper in shock. "You can't be serious."

"Actually, she's never been more serious," said David.

"Excuse me, I was talking to her, not you. This doesn't sound like you, Piper."

"Doesn't it? Piper wants to protect her son. She wants a normal life. This way she can have both," David argued, ignoring the look on Leo's face.

"Hey, that was my argument," Chris said.

"Well, it's a good one," nodded David.

Phoebe looked at them and shook her head. "No, that's not a good one. That's a bad one, a very, very bad one. One that's been discussed and discarded already."

"Yeah, but that was before a demonic cult started targeting him," Piper cut in.

"I mean, this could be..." Chris began to say before he was cut off by Paige.

"Oh, what? Just another big bad evil thing that's coming after him? Yeah, yeah, yeah, we got it."

"It still isn't a good enough reason!" Leo said.

"Piper, thinks it is!" David replied.

Phoebe looked at him with narrowed eyes. "Hey, buddy, don't forget who made you."

"That's right, you did make him, didn't you?" Chris noted, a spark of realization filling his eyes.

"Piper, I don't understand. Yesterday you were willing to give up everything for Wyatt's future. Why this now?" Phoebe said, turning to look at her sister.

"Well, you should know. You're the one that, um, showed me what I really wanted and really need."

"She's got us there," Paige muttered.

"Yeah, well, it doesn't matter because it's gonna take the power of three to bind someone as powerful as Wyatt and I'm not gonna support it," Phoebe declared.

"Neither am I," Paige agreed.

"Well, then we have a problem because I am," Piper countered.

"Alright, why don't we all just take a deep breath, okay? Leo, why don't you orb Wyatt up there until we figure this thing out," Chris said, the spark of a new idea still in his eyes.

"Gladly," said Leo as he went over and took Baby Wyatt from David before orbing out.

"Alright, and why don't we, David, right? Why don't you come with me and let the girls talk alone for a minute, Chris said as he lead David up to the attic.

"Hey, what's going on? I thought you were gonna keep him occupied," Phoebe said to Chris as he and David walked down a few minutes later.

"I was, but then I figured I had to break the impasse between you three, so -"

"Really? How?"

"Uh..." Chris shoved David over to the sisters and David started massaging Phoebe's shoulders.

"Don't worry, I'm hear for you, Phoebe. Not off taking care of business in some far away land."

"Yeah, I like the sound of that," Phoebe sighed.

"So what do we think about binding Wyatt's powers?" Chris asked again.

\----------------------------------------------

"Leo!" Chris called out two hours later as he and the sisters walked into the attic.

"What happened?" Leo orbed in with Baby Wyatt and looked at Chris.

"You don't wanna know," Chris replied as he thought about the massive food fight that had broken out a little while ago.

"We're binding Wyatt's powers," Piper declared.

Leo looked at her in alarm. "What?"

"We already decided."

"You can't be serious."

Suddenly, three Order demons appeared and before anyone could react, pointed a wand at Baby Wyatt and his eyes glowed as his shield popped up; sending Leo flying across the room.

"He's one of us now," one of the demons said as they walked through the force field and shimmered out.

There was a long moment of silence before Piper, Phoebe, and Paige all stalked towards Chris.

"Listen to me, what are you doing?" Chris exclaimed, nervously.

"The pheromones wore off," Phoebe said, ominously.

"Right after they took my son!" Piper shouted.

"You don't seriously believe this is my fault, do you?" Chris shouted back.

"Oh, right, so it's just a big coincidence we all fell under Mr. Right's spell?" Paige exclaimed.

"And suddenly we all want to bind Wyatt's powers?"

"You see, Chris, what they really want is for you..." David started to say.

"For you to leave," Paige said, turning to look at David.

"This is crazy. Leo, tell them," Chris cried out.

"Tell them what? I'm wondering the same thing myself."

"Okay, so what if I did? I was only trying to protect Wyatt."

"By tricking us?" Piper yelled furiously.

"I had to."

"Why?" Phoebe asked, trying to keep her voice calm.

"Because the only reason I came here was to keep Wyatt from turning evil!" Chris yelled in frustration. He then clapped his hands over his mouth as he realized what he'd just said.

"Turning evil?" Leo looked at Chris in confusion.

"Wait, don't you mean stopping evil from hurting him?" Paige asked.

"I didn't think you'd help me if you knew the truth. I knew you wouldn't. The evil from the future I came back to stop isn't a demon. It's Wyatt," Chris slowly explained.

"You're lying," said Piper, glaring at the whitelighter.

"No, he's not lying Piper. He's gonna grow up and terrorise people with his powers, take over. Kill even!" No one had noticed Eliana enter the room.

"Why should we believe either of you after all the lies?"

"I haven't lied to you," Eliana pointed out as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"As far as we know, doesn't mean you haven't, or won't. Why should we believe anything you two say!"

"Because you have to," Chris begged.

"No, Chris, we don't, actually," Piper said, coldly.

"Fine, then don't. Either way, we need to save Wyatt now and I'm the one who knows how to do it." Chris stated.

"Really? How?" Phoebe asked with raised eyebrows.

"The Order. They used their powers to turn him, to reverse his morality. See, he thinks bad is good now, and good is bad. That's why his shield repelled you," Eliana explained slowly. She had heard the shouting and shown up in time to see what had happened.

"So?" Leo looked at Eliana, but it was Chris who answered.

"So, Wyatt brings his shield up around me. He thinks I'm a threat."

"Yeah, so do I," Piper said.

"Listen to us, they reversed his sense of morality. That means his shield will protect him from you but not from me. Please, I'm the only one who can save him. Let me help!" Chris pleaded.

"Chris, we don't need your help. I will get my son back, and when I do, I don't wanna see you anymore!" Piper declared.

"Piper, you don't understand what your doing!" Eliana cried out as she heard Piper.

"What I understand, is that Chris has been lying to us since he first came here! I am sick of it!" She turned to glare at Chris again. "I want you out of my house, now! And you better find somewhere else to stay, because you are no longer welcome at P3!"

Chris hung his head as he glanced at Eliana; who he could tell was just as shocked as he was. "I'm sorry," he said before orbing out.

"Do you have any idea what you've done!" Eliana rounded on Piper, her voice laced with fury at the injustice of it all. "I can't believe you just kicked your - I mean he's - how could you -" she threw her hands up in frustration. She knew Chris would never forgive her if she revealed his secret - assuming he'd ever forgive her to begin with.

"I don't wanna hear it, missy. You were told to stay downstairs and we clearly can't trust you to do so, you are no longer welcome here either! I don't care what Chris said about needing information from you and whatever else it was. I do not want to see either of you again."

"Fine! Whatever, if this is how you treat your own - I don't want to stay here anymore anyways - you know, I'm starting to wonder why Chris is still so obsessed with helping you guys if this is how you've been treating him this entire time! If it were me, I would just leave you to your fate - if it weren't for the fact I would be condemning every other person your son will harm in the future as well! You may not like how secretive Chris is about the future but he has good reasons for it! I would think after all the effort he's put into protecting Baby Wyatt that you would realize by now that he would never make something like that up. Considering how well I know Wyatt in the future, I think I'd know better than you four, whether or not Wyatt is evil...I'm the one who had to put up with him every damn day...Chris doesn't know how easy he's had it! - and believe me - it hasn't been a picnic for him either!" she broke off before she revealed too much.

"Chris was right about you, that's for sure. You're just as bad as he is, now get out of my house!" Piper shouted.

"Gladly!" Eliana stormed out of the attic and when she was out of sight, orbed herself to P3 to see if Chris had gone there to get his stuff.

\----------------------------------------------

"Behold. He has returned to us. To his rightful place, who will one day lead us back to..." a demon was saying as he gestured to Baby Wyatt. Just then, Phoebe, Piper, and Paige orbed in and started attacking them.

The head demon sat Wyatt down as Piper went over to them to attack after making sure the other demons were all gone. But Wyatt put up his shield, knocking Piper backwards. "He protects me now, not you." The demon hissed.

He created a fireball and was about to throw it at her when Chris orbed in and jumped on him. The head demon was vanquished by his own fireball.

"Pick up the scepter and point it at Wyatt. Trust me." Chris called out to Piper.

She pointed it at Wyatt and Wyatt's shield vanished. Piper picked him up and the three sisters turned to stare at Chris.

"How come he didn't raise his shield back up for you?" Paige asked.

"I don't know. Looks like he trusts me now at least." He orbed out, not able to handle the looks of mistrust on his family's faces any longer.

\----------------------------------------------

"Chris! Where the hell have you been! I've been worried sick!" Chris stepped back in shock as he stared at Eliana; who was sitting on the couch he'd been sleeping on at P3, with tears streaming down her face.

"Wow, didn't think you still cared that much," he said, half jokingly as he began to throw his clothes into the backpack he had brought with him, still surprised to see such an emotional reaction from her.

"Of course I still care! - I never stopped," she mumbled but Chris couldn't be sure he'd heard that last part correctly. He shook his head and continued packing, assuming that it had just been wishful thinking.

"Look, Chris - I don't even know what to say! I'm so sorry about them kicking you out! That was so messed up! I -"

"I do not want to talk about that right now and especially not with you! But we do have a lot to talk about! I need some answers and you're going to give them to me whether you like it or not!"

"Um...answers to what?" Eliana said hesitantly as she wiped her cheeks clean.

"No, not right now, I have to finish packing and then find a new place to live."

Eliana shifted uncomfortably as she looked up at him. "Uh, I don't suppose you'd mind me tagging along? After you left, I tried to explain that you were telling the truth; that you were only here to try and help Baby Wyatt and had good intentions - that they were wrong to kick you out, but they wouldn't listen and booted me out as well...I'll obviously find another place as soon as I can, it's just..."

"You stuck up for me?" Chris interrupted in surprise.

"Of course I did! What Piper did was plain wrong!"

"That's not what I meant -"

"I know what you meant, look Chris - you were right, we have a lot to talk about, and I promise I'll answer all of your questions as best I can, but first, we need to get out of here! I'll help you pack!"

The two of them packed up Chris's things in silence and when they were finished, Chris didn't look at her as he grabbed her arm and orbed them out.


	7. The Truth

Chris's POV

"How much money do you have on you?" I asked Eliana as I orbed us around to look for a cheap place to stay.

"I've got exactly - none." I frowned at her. "What did you expect! I didn't exactly have much time to plan my journey here! I just saw an opportunity to escape and seized it!"

"Escape? That's funny! You make it sound as if he keeps you trapped like the rest of his prisoners!" I said, coldly. I watched as she opened her mouth to speak only to bite her lip. My eyes narrowed in suspicion but I didn't want to have this conversation in the middle of the street. It was not going to be pleasant, and as much as I hated myself for caring, I wanted to make this as painless for her as possible.

"Okay...that's going to narrow our options down since I don't have much either. I have enough to get us a hotel room for the night but after that, we're either going to have to find a way to make some money, or find an abandoned building to crash in - will m'lady' be able to handle that?" I asked sarcastically.

"Oh, please! Like I haven't slept in worse conditions! If I can manage...I mean to say...ugh it doesn't matter, you won't be hearing any complaints from me - oh, and don't call me that!" I looked at her in surprise as her cheeks went red in embarrassment. If things had been different, I might have said she looked cute when flustered, but they weren't.

"What, would you prefer, 'my Queen', or 'your majesty'!"

We stood there glaring at each other for who knows how long. I finally sighed and said we had better get going. I found us a cheap run-down motel and Eliana carried my stuff to the room while I payed and then went to search the perimeter to make sure there were no demons lurking around.

\----------------------------------------------

An hour later I was finally finished and made my way back to our room for the night. I opened the door, walked in, and froze. Eliana was standing in the middle of the room wearing nothing but a towel; her reddish brown hair dripping down her back. As I watched, she went over to her bag and rummaged around for a few minutes before pulling some clothes out. I finally managed to clear my throat roughly as she straightened up and made to remove the towel. She whirled around and if I hadn't orbed out a second later, I would have been impaled by the dagger she had thrown.

"Oh my gawd! I'm so sorry Chris! You shouldn't scare me like that!" she cried out as I orbed back in.

"It's fine, considering I'm known as the 'neurotic whitelighter' I can understand being jumpy."

We stood there staring at each other again and I couldn't help but notice how the towel strained against her chest every time she breathed in. I shifted uncomfortably and coughed again.

"Um...I-I'm just gonna go to the bathroom and change - be right back!" she cried out as she dashed out and closed the bathroom door with a loud thud. I took the opportunity to reach down and rearrange my pants as I went over to my own bag and pulled out a shirt and some sweatpants. I sat on the bed and waited until Eliana came back out before disappearing to take a shower.

I sighed in relief as the hot water hit my body and I began to wash off the demon filth; there had been a group of scavenger demons hiding in one of the alleyways who had been particularly difficult to get rid of. When I finished, I got out and examined myself in the mirror. I groaned as I saw the scratches on my back. They were too deep to ignore but I couldn't reach or use my own power to heal them.

I tugged on my sweatpants and walked out shirtless. I glanced at Eliana; who was laying on the bed staring blankly at the ceiling, before heading over to my smaller bag and yanking out the first-aid kit I had brought with me. I could feel Eiana's eyes on me as I lifted out a roll of bandages, tape, grabbed the scissors, and headed back into the bathroom.

"Here, let me help you with that."

Eliana had followed me and stood in the doorway watching me struggle with the bandages. I mumbled grumpily as I handed them over to her and turned around so she could tend to my back. I was now facing the mirror and could see her face reflected in it as she began to cut the bandages into strips. I continued to watch as she then took the medical tape and started to carefully cover up the gashes. I shivered slightly as her hands skated over my skin.

"I'm so sorry! I'm trying to make this as painless as I can!" I assured her she was doing fine, knowing that it wasn't the pain that had caused me to tremble. I gripped the edge of the counter tightly and clenched my teeth as I forced myself to stay still. I didn't know what surprised me more; her shockingly gentle touch or the tender kindness on her face as she gazed down at me, none of which I had ever expected to receive from His most loyal follower.

As Eliana continued to patch up my wounds I couldn't help but be grateful for the fact that I was now wearing sweatpants; otherwise things would have been even more uncomfortable (:p). Once she was done, she packed up the supplies and I slid a shirt on as I sat down on the bed. It took a few minutes for me to gather my emotions under control before I managed to steel myself to say, "we've procrastinated long enough, it's time we talked."

Eliana glanced nervously at me as she placed the first-aid kit back in my bag and zipped it up. The bed dipped as she came over and sat down with her legs crossed as I began to speak again.

"I've had my suspicions for a while now but I need to know for sure -" Eliana looked down, tugging and twisting her fingers in the material covering her legs. The ends of my lips lifted slightly at this familiar childhood habit of hers. "What information were you looking up in the Book of Shadows?"

"It's not what you think, Chris! I swear, He didn't send me back to kill or gather information or anything like that - He didn't send me at all! I keep telling you that!"

"Woah, slow down! Yes, you're right about me still not trusting you completely but I know you weren't searching on His orders."

"You - you do?" She glanced up at me in surprise.

"Of course! He has His own version of the Book, why would He need you to go back to the past just to look something up! There wouldn't be anything in the past version that wasn't in the future one."

"Yeah, I guess you have a point there," Eliana conceded.

"So -" I prompted.

"What?"

"What were you looking up? And I already know the answer so don't bother lying."

She looked back down at her hands. "If you already know the answer then why are you asking me!"

"Because, I don't entirely believe it and need to know more if you want me to trust you at all. I can't trust someone who is purposefully keeping secrets!"

"Purposefully keeping secrets! Oh, you're one to talk! What I keep to myself is because I have no choice! You? You have complete control over what you say! You could solve half your problems if you just told them the truth about who you are! It's your own fault you keep everything to yourself! You think I like keeping all these secrets? Because I assure you, I do not. If it weren't for - if He hadn't - if you had any idea what that bastard is really like - I don't want to - if I could just - He's not - I know you think I - argh!" She stopped talking and bit her lip in frustration. As hard as she tried to hide it, I could tell that she was in pain and my heart dropped as my suspicions were confirmed.

"I can't believe Wyatt would do this to you!" I mumbled under my breath, my sense of dread rising. If I had underestimated my brother about this, what else could I have been wrong about? I knew He was even more paranoid than I was; which was saying something, but I had always thought that Eliana would be one of the few people that He did trust. I mean, He was the one she loved, He was the whose side she had stuck by...

"Do what?" Eliana's voice broke through my thoughts and I looked at the confused expression on her face.

"He used the Tongue Tying Jinx on you, didn't he." It wasn't a question, since I knew I was right now. Eliana opened her mouth to respond; but whether she was trying to confirm or deny, I couldn't tell, because the spell wouldn't allow her to speak.

We sat in silence, neither of us knowing what to say next. I thought hard about the best way to phrase my questions in order to get the information that I needed to know.

"Can you tell me what you can and can't talk about?" I asked after along pause.

"I don't know, I've never tried. I guess...I guess we're about to find out!" She avoided my gaze and continued to fumble with her hands as she slowly started to try and explain. "Well...um...I can't - not allowed to -" she stopped and tried to start over. "You know how He doesn't like betrayal?" I nodded my head. "Well it's similar to what happened with that friend of yours who had been secretly passing on information. I assume you remember what he was and wasn't able to say?"

"So...you can't talk about any plans you overhear - I had guessed as much...anything else?"

"Yes...um, well...you and I both know He's a stickler for appearances - I can't say or do anything in public that contradicts Him - since I'm not in public, I could tell you just how much I despise the evil son of a - a wonderful woman!" she corrected as she realized what she had been about to say. I waved the comment off as I focused on the implications of what she had just admitted.

"Wait, so are you telling me that you don't actually like Wyatt?"

"I - um - it's not that I don't - I mean - it's complicated!" she gasped out.

"Complicated because you can't or don't want to talk about it?"

"I - both..."

"Why wouldn't you want to talk about it? It's not like I don't know the kind of person my brother has turned into! I doubt there's anything you could say that would surprise me at this point. What could be worse than the fact that you kill for him!" I felt my temper rise as I remembered this.

"It's not like that! You make it sound like I willingly do it!" I stared at her.

"You don't actually expect me to believe that you don't! I saw the way you killed my friend. You're a good actor, but not that good! No one could fake the pleasure I saw on your face as you watched him bleed to death!"

"I - you don't understand! That was one time - and I was as horrified by my reaction as you probably were but you would have acted the same way in my shoes!"

"No I wouldn't have - he was my best friend - used to be yours too!"

"Chris, he wasn't who you thought he was, Ryan changed after the Event..."

"Yeah, so? We all did! That doesn't justify what you did!"

"You don't get it! He changed sides like Bianca - but he was worse!" My eyes widened at her accusation.

"How dare you suggest that! Ryan would never -"

"Oh, come on! Who else do you think could have been feeding Wyatt the information he needed? Because Bianca was still on your side when Ben was caught!"

"Are you seriously trying to say that Ryan was the one who 'outted' Ben? Ben was like a brother to Ryan - he would never have done anything that would get Ben killed!"

"Chris, I was there the night Ryan discovered Ben's identity and told Wyatt! I was there every other time he fed Him information as well - and he wasn't just passing on information! He -" she suddenly stopped talking and looked at me apprehensively.

"Well don't stop now, do go on!" I said, not bothering to hide my disbelief.

"Fine, but you're not going to like it!" She looked at me and when I didn't respond, hesitantly started to speak again. "I don't know why or how it happened, but the first time I saw Ryan after the Event he was different - more like Wyatt. It wasn't just information he was passing to your brother but...well...you know how deadly his control over water can be! Who do you think was responsible for sinking one of the safe-houses and drowning everyone inside at the time? He rose faster than anyone else in the ranks and whenever He didn't want to send me out, Wyatt would order Ryan to take care of someone; that or He sent Ryan into the dungeons to torture the prisoners for information. And...and whenever He was particularly pleased...He...He let Ryan...join in - it's how He rewards anyone who manages to please Him enough...Ryan wasn't...he was almost worse than Wyatt at times! I mean the others weren't exactly nice about it either, but Ryan was...let's just say I saw him a lot after he started working for Wyatt..." I got up from the bed and paced around the room.

I couldn't believe what she was telling me, but in a way, it explained so much. After thinking over what Eliana had said multiple times, I was eventually forced to conclude that she must be right. I roared in anger and punched the wall, then cried out again as the skin of my knuckles was scraped off. Eliana silently went over and got out the first-aid kit again as I sat back down on the bed.

"Sorry!" She whispered as I hissed in pain. We sat in silence as she wiped away the blood and wrapped my hand up before returning the kit to the bag.

"You shouldn't have done that, I know you're upset about Ryan but punching walls isn't going to solve anything. He can't cause anymore problems..."

Something still bothered me about what she had said. "What...what did you mean about Wyatt rewarding his lackeys? What exactly did Ryan get in return for betraying us? What could possibly have made it worth it?"

Eliana looked down at her hands again and didn't say anything for so long that I started to think she was never going to answer.

"Me," she finally muttered so quietly I almost missed it.

"What?"

"They would get me..."

I groaned in irritation, I hated being confused and she was being purposefully vague.

"What the hell does that mean!"

"Oh, come on, Chris! Use your brain! What do you think it means! Don't tell me you actually thought that when Wyatt turned evil it hadn't impacted His attitude and behavior during sex!"

I froze in horror as I realized the implications of what she had just said.

"He actually let - you mean that Ryan - how could He - I'm gonna Kill Him!"

"Sorry, but I got there first," Eliana said, still gazing at her hands.

"I wasn't talking about Ryan, though I think I'm starting to understand why you enjoyed killing that back-stabbing bastard."

"Yeah, unfortunately. I only did it because he was going to come back with Bianca, but he was ordered to kill you if anything went wrong - I - I couldn't let that happen! Believe me, I wish things had gone differently!"

I sighed heavily and moved up on the bed. "It's ok, I think I'm starting to understand better. I clearly have been underestimating my brother way more than I thought! Look let's just go to bed and try to get some sleep!"

I turned out the lights and we got under the covers. I closed my eyes and tried to get the images of Wyatt and Eliana out of my head. It certainly wasn't the first time I had dreamt about the two of them, but this time, instead of them laughing and mocking me, He was hurting her and I couldn't stop Him. It wasn't till at least 3am that I was finally able to nod off to sleep.


	8. The Sleepy Halliwell

3rd Person POV

"Hi, thanks for coming!" Piper cried out as Phoebe and Paige walked through the door of the nursery school.

"Oh, of course, you know, anything for our little nephew. What exactly are we doing for our little nephew?" Phoebe asked.

"Showing family support. They look for that, especially when the father's not around a lot." Piper answered.

"What are you talking about? Leo's around all the time."

"Yeah, for Wyatt, but he won't be for the school, he can't be -" just then, Piper noticed Paige pulling out her phone and starting to dial. "What are you doing? Put that thing down."

"I'm trying to get a hold of Richard, I can't find him."

"Yeah, well, you've been trying to call Richard for the last couple of days, maybe you should give it a rest."

"I know, but I'm just afraid he's off on some magical freak out or something, you know, and I just wanna be able to help him."

"Maybe he just needs a little time alone?" Suggested Phoebe.

"It just makes me question whether or not I can even save an innocent if I can't save my boyfriend. No offence." Paige looked at Phoebe as she realized she might have touched a nerve.

"Oh, no, don't worry about it, I'm over it."

"Jason?

"Yeah, when you get to be my age, you can't spend the time crying over spilled milk, you know?"

"Your age?"

"Yeah, the whole biological clock thing. It's very real and it's echoing. Tick-tick-tick-tick-tick."

"Okay, neurotic people, can we get back to my neurosis right now, please?" Piper cried out.

"Sure. Which one were we talking about?" Phoebe shifted her gaze from Paige to Piper.

"The one where I'm a rotten mother who's raising an anti-social child."

"Oh, that is ridiculous, and not true," Paige assured her sister.

(Paige dials a number on her phone.)

"Is it? He doesn't have any friends, Phoebe. You and I had each other when we were growing up, but he doesn't have anybody, he's all alone."

"Hey, I was all alone," Paige pointed out.

"Yeah, but you didn't know you had powers, so it was safe for you to have friends. Your mother didn't have to worry about if you were gonna orb out during a play date or something."

"Piper, do you think you're overreacting a little?" Phoebe said, cautiously. They all looked over at Wyatt as bright lights filled the room and he orbed out.

"No!" Cried Piper, her fear rising.

Paige quickly grabbed her sisters hands and orbed them to Baby Wyatt. They arrived in time to see that he had orbed in front a door that had appeared in the middle of the stairway.

"You can not keep doing this, sweetie, really," said Piper. Phoebe picked Baby Wyatt up as Paige noticed the door.

"Guys?"

"Oh, what the...Oh, this is not good," Phoebe exclaimed as she saw what Paige was looking at.

The three sisters stood watching the door, unsure of what to do, until a voice from the other side suddenly cried out for help.

"Orb him out of here. Go!" Piper shouted to Paige as Phoebe handed her Baby Wyatt.

As Paige orbed out, the door opened and a bald man with glasses, and wearing a black robe walked out.

"Oh, thank god you're home," he cried out.

Before Piper or Phoebe could respond, a headless horseman appeared behind the man and sliced off his head with a long sword. The door slammed shut as the head bounced down the stairs.

"What the hell was that?" Piper yelled out.

"That was the headless horseman," said a voice from the bottom of the stairs.

\----------------------------------------------

Eliana's POV

"What do we do now? How are we supposed to make sure the future gets changed if the sisters refuse to let us help? I'm not just going to give up!"

"Neither am I!"

"So then what the hell are we supposed to do?" I asked Chris in frustration, not being able to see any viable options.

"Okay...how about you keep a close eye on them with those stealth skills of yours and I'll keep trying to find what information I can and we'll just go from there?"

\----------------------------------------------

A few weeks had passed since our conversation and decision to continue to help from afar. We'd managed to find an abandoned building somewhat near the Manor, but other than patrolling the area every night, we hadn't been able to figure out what to do next. I kept suggesting that he just tell them who he was, but he was dead-set against the idea; so sure that they would never believe him, which I had to admit, seemed like the most probable end result.  

So I just continued to lurk in the shadows and protect the sisters wherever I could. In the following weeks since we had been tossed out, I had dealt with more demons than I cared to count, but they had all been low-level and unable to provide Chris and I with any new information. I sighed in frustration as I saw another pathetic excuse for a demon attempting to sneak around the back of the manor. No more than five minutes passed before I was able to wipe my hands of him and slink back into the house to see what I had missed in my absence.

I arrived in time to observe Phoebe placing a man's head on a table as she straightened his glasses.

"You're very kind," the head was saying.

"Yeah, can I just ask you one question? How are you still talking?"I clutched my hands to my mouth to stop myself from chuckling at the expression on Phoebe's face.

"Yes, well, fair question. Uh, fortunately the rest of me is still at Magic School, otherwise I'd be..."

"I'm sorry, Magic School?" Piper interrupted.

"Yes, that's right. Anyway, as I was saying, uh, as long as my body remains on grounds, I can't, uh, well, you know, die. It's all part of the magic thankfully."

"Like the doorway in the middle of my stairway." Even from my hiding place, I could feel the irritation rolling off of Piper in waves.

"Sorry, I didn't know where else to put it, it's the only way in or out of the school, I had to reach you somehow."

"Do you have a name?" Phoebe asked.

"Sigmund. But I'm afraid we don't have much time for pleasantries. I really need to get you back before he strikes again."

"The headless horseman?" Piper asked, clearly dreading the answer.

"Right."

"Fabulous!" Just then Paige and Leo orbed back in. "Where's Wyatt?" I heard Piper ask Paige.

"He's upstairs in his room. I thought I should bring Le...Oh my god, and apparently I was right!"

"Leo! Oh, so good to see you again!" The head of Sigmund cried out.

"Sigmund, what happened?"

Phoebe looked back and forth between the two men. "Wait, you guys know each other?"

"Gideon sent me for your help, all your help," Sigmund replied, ignoring Phoebe.

"Gideon. Who's Gideon? And who are you?" said Paige.

"Alright, all you people with legs follow me!" I couldn't help giggling this time but they had already left the room and there was no risk of them hearing me as I paused before following them.

"Just so you know, this is what's keeping your son from developing social skills," Piper was saying as I joined them in the kitchen.

"And me from helping Richard," Paige added.

"And me from helping...me," Phoebe finished.

"What?" Leo said in confusion.

"I'm talking about our lives. We can't just drop what we're doing every time someone's head comes rolling down the stairs," Piper explained.

"I don't believe you're saying this. You don't understand, this isn't supposed to happen. Magic school is supposed to be protected from evil. It's the only way Gideon can teach magic to the next generation, Wyatt's generation!"

"I think Wyatt is more concerned with nursery school right now than magic school."

"Are you sure? Paige said he orbed back in front of the door. He was drawn to it."

"Okay, you know what? I think we should help the magic school, because we can't just keep that head on our foyer table, you know? What is it, a centre-piece?" Phoebe stated, breaking up Piper and Leo's argument.

"Okay, fine, but we can't take Wyatt, sorry!" Piper exclaimed.

"Alright, I'll get Chris to watch him," Leo said. My heart warmed a little at Leo's words. I didn't like him all that much in the future because of how he had treated Chris, but the past-Leo wasn't so bad apparently.

"What? After everything he's done? No, I don't think so."

"He was just trying to protect Wyatt."

"Oh, please!" Paige said in disbelief.

"Look, I think his intentions are good. He deserves another chance - and so does Eliana." I wanted to hear the rest of the conversation, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw yet another demon approaching the house so I tore myself away and went to go take care of him.

\----------------------------------------------

3rd Person POV

Piper, Phoebe, Paige and Leo opened the door to the magic school and slowly walked in; Piper carrying a pillow case. As they stepped through the doorway, they saw Sigmond's body laying on the floor.

"Um, are you sure you can breathe in there alright?" Piper said, looking inside the pillow case.

"Yes, I..." They all paused as the door slammed shut with a loud bang. "We must move quickly."

"Alright." Piper glanced gingerly at Sigmund's body.

"Just step around it, someone will be along for it shortly."

They did just that and looked around to find themselves in a very, very long hallway.

"So how are we gonna find this dude Gideon, anyway?" Paige asked.

"He's not a dude, he's an Elder, my old mentor, actually." Leo explained.

"Really? You've never mentioned him before!" said Piper in surprise.

"We met a long time ago when I first became a Whitelighter. He helped me out, took me under his wing. He actually fought for us to get married, to break the rules."

"Really?"

A sound behind them made Phoebe turn around in time to see a wolf appear.

"Okay, I don't want to freak anybody out but there is a wolf following us."

"What?" The rest of the group turned around but the hallway was empty except for them.

"There was a wolf following us, I swear."

"Not everyone sees the same things here, Phoebe, only what they're meant to see," came Sigmund's voice from the pillow case.

"Who you got in there, Confucius? Okay, you all saw that, right?" A student had just floated past Phoebe reading a book.

"Eleventh grade levitation. She's late. We should keep moving, the great hall is just ahead."

They walked further down the hallway and reached a large wooden door. It opened up and they walked inside the room.

"Leo, good, thanks for coming. Although I do wish it was under better circumstances," said a bodiless voice.

"Gideon," Leo started to say before the voice cut him off.

"And the Charmed Ones. Lovely to see you again. Although you probably don't remember meeting me, you were just little girls."

Piper looked at Leo in confusion. "Leo?"

"Gideon, I do believe your invisibility shield is still up," Leo called out into the room.

Suddenly a man appeared before their eyes as he pulled off his hood.

"I'm sorry, I'm just a little distracted with everything that's been going on around here."

"Yes, we heard," said Piper as Leo put Sigmund's head on a table.

"Sigmund, oh, I'm so sorry," Gideon said as his eyes fell on his friend.

"It's alright, sir. It didn't stop me from delivering the message now, did it?"

"Okay, would somebody please tell me what's going on here?" Phoebe cried out in frustration.

"Always were a restless one, just like your Grams. Well, it all started innocently enough actually. Pranks really. Setting rats loose from the Pied Piper, turning the north dawn into a gingerbread house. Kids."

"And then..." Leo prompted as Gideon paused.

"And then someone cast a spell that brought forth the darkness, and days became nights, nights became terror, and the headless horseman has roamed the campus ever since, targeting teachers."

"Forgive me, sir. Perhaps you'd like to orb me over to the other heads."

"Right. Good thinking."

"Nice to meet you," Sigmund said to the sisters.

"You too, dude!" Phoebe called back as Gideon orbed Sigmund's head out of the room.

"So what you're saying is somebody's trying to shut down the school by cutting off teacher's heads?" Paige asked Gideon.

"What else would it be? What better way for evil to gain an upper hand than to teach the next generation.

"Isn't it as simple as finding who conjured the horseman and reversing the magic?" Piper suggested.

"Yes, except that no student possesses that level of magic, at least they're not supposed to. That's why I believe that a demon from the outside has somehow corrupted one of them into doing his bidding."

"So you find the student, you find the evil, right?" asked Paige.

"True, except you find much more than that here, Paige. The answers you each seek can be found within these grounds. You merely have to be open to them. Teaching will help you find the student in question, but it will also remind you of what you fear you have lost. Investigating our nursery school will help you with your worries over Wyatt. And if you follow the wolf, she will lead you where you want to go, but be careful. The deeper you look, the more you will discover and the better chance you will have of saving all this." Gideon looked at each sister as he spoke to them.

\----------------------------------------------

"Here wolfy, wolfy, wolfy, wolfy. Come on. I know you're here somewhere. Here wolfy, wolfy, wolfy, wolfy!" Phoebe called out as she walked the halls looking for the wold as Gideon had suggested. Suddenly, she spotted the creature. "Oh, hi, hi, sweet wolfy. Okay, you don't have to attack me because Gideon sent me - where are you going?"

She chased after it and soon found herself inside a cave with a small fire burning in the center. The wolf goes over to stand by the fire as Phoebe walks in. As she walked in, the wolf burst into flames and turned into a woman.

"Neat trick. Can you shapeshift into the headless horseman as well?"

"I'm a shaman, not a shapeshifter. The wolf is merely a projection of your quest, a symbol."

"Fascinating. You didn't answer my question."

"Do you really think I lured you out here just to kill you, Phoebe? You have the power of premonition, but it's unreliable. Especially lately. I can help you see your future more clearly. If you're willing to take the risk.

\----------------------------------------------

"I don't know what the hell Gideon was talking about, 'cause this is certainly not what I'm looking for!" Piper exclaimed as she and Leo stood in the nursery school watching little kids playing together with magic.

"Still, Wyatt doesn't have to hide his powers. Plus, he's not gonna be all alone," Leo pointed out.

"No, he'll be surrounded by all the other freaks."

"They're not freaks."

"You know what I mean. I just want Wyatt to have a normal up bringing. At least as normal as possible. Is that too much to ask for?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Well, we're not shopping for preschools, we're shopping for head hunters. So where is..."

Just then the a teacher walked in with a little girl.

"Sorry, a little emergency. Go ahead." The girl went off to join the other kids. "Now, where were we?"

"You were telling us about your near miss with the headless..."

"Shhh. Don't want to scare the little ones. They may have powers but they're still innocent," the teacher whispered too Piper.

"How'd you get away?" Leo asked.

"I astral projected. Confused him, I guess, by creating two of me, thank god."

"Um, are you suggesting that one of these kids might be..." said Piper.

"Involved? Oh, dear, no, no, never."

Leo looked at the teacher in confusion. "Why would you be a target?"

"These children are the cradle of good magic, its entire future. Without proper guidance, nurturing, they can easily be turned -"

"Evil?" Piper finished for her, remembering what Chris had said about Baby Wyatt turning evil and starting to think that maybe, just maybe, there had been some truth to what he'd said.

A siren suddenly filled the room.

The three adults ran out into the hall to see students running all over the place. Leo spotted Gideon and ran over to him.

"Anybody hurt?"

"Not yet."

"You guys okay?" Paige cried as she an over to them.

"Paige, you're a teacher now, you need to be careful!" Gideon pointed out.

"Come on, I'll take you back," Leo said, looking at Piper in concern.

"Not yet," Piper replied just as the headless horseman appeared behind her.

"Piper!" Paige warned her sister. Piper whirled around but too late. The headless horseman swung his sword at her and sliced her head off before disappearing.

"Great. Just great," Piper's head said from the floor.

\----------------------------------------------

"Ow. Easy, easy. Ow, easy, watch the hair!" Piper shouted as Leo placed her head on top of a cabinet. They had returned to the manor to figure out what their next move should be.

"Sorry."

"You doing okay up there, honey?" asked Paige.

"Actually, I feel a little woozy."

"Well, maybe it's because we have you up to high. Are you sure you don't want me to move you down lower?" Leo suggested.

"No, I don't Wyatt to see me like this, he will freak out."

"Well, you know, on the plus side, this is a great way for Wyatt to get out and socialize!" said Paige, attempting to lighten the mood.

"If I had legs I would kick you," Piper glared at her sister then looked sideways at a spiky plant sitting beside her head. "Could you move this for me, please?" Leo pointed to the plant. " Yeah," Piper confirmed and Leo took the plant off the cabinet.

"You know, maybe I should just go upstairs and check the book and see if there's a spell that can fix this," said Paige.

"Or we can find the little child that conjured the horseman and vanquish it!" Piper countered.

"You think that would reverse the spell?"

"I'm hoping."

"Yeah, I keep getting this weird feeling that it's one of the students in my class," Paige said, slowly.

Leo looked at her. "Why?"

"Because who better to turn than one of the most powerful kids there!"

"What do you suggest?"

"I think we should bring them here."

"What?" Piper interrupted.

"Yeah, if we get them away from the school, they can't conjure the horseman. That way we keep them here long enough to figure out who it is."

"I say it's not a bad idea since you're targets now."

"Uh-oh. Phoebe!" Paige realized.

"I'll go get her," Leo said, but Piper disagreed with the idea.

"No. I do not want Wyatt to have two headless parents. Send Chris or Eliana."

\----------------------------------------------

Leo orbed to P3 before remembering that Piper had banned him from staying there. He closed his eyes and used his sensing power before orbing again. To his surprise, he found himself back at the Manor; in Wyatt's room. Chris was standing next to a demon who was doing something with his son.

"What the hell is going on here!" He yelled as he snatched his baby out of harms way.

"It's not what it looks like, Leo!"

"Really? Cuz it looks like your working with a demon!"

"Well yes, but not to harm Wyatt! He can sense for evil! I'm just trying to make sure Wyatt is still good! He wasn't in any danger!"

Leo stared at the young man in front of him, his anger rising. As much as he didn't like the whitelighter, he had stood up for him, and this was how he returned the favor?

"Get out, Chris! I don't want to see you here ever again! You are not welcome around here!"

He watched Chris hang his head; his eyes filling with a strange emotion that Leo couldn't understand, before orbing out. Leo thought for a little while about who he could send, before deciding he really had no choice but to get Eliana. After what he had just seen with Chris, he was hesitant to trust her, but unlike Chris, at least she hadn't done anything yet to give him any reason not to; not to mention Baby Wyatt simply adored her.

He closed his eyes again and sensed for her location. When he orbed in, he found himself in an abandoned building that looked like it had been unoccupied for years. The walls were rotten through, trash littered the floor, and the pipes were leaking.

"Leo! What are you doing here!" He looked over to see Eliana getting up from a makeshift bed - if you could call it a bed at all.

"We need someone to check up on Phoebe and get her back to the house. There's a headless horsemen on the loose and he got Piper."

"Is Piper okay!"

"Yeah, she's fine, but we could use Phoebe's help, but Piper doesn't want me to go in case -"

"I got it, I got it, don't worry about it. I'll make sure Phoebe gets back to the Manor safely - just get back and help Piper and Paige, I'm sure they could use your help."

\----------------------------------------------

"So if you're so innocent, why are you hiding out?" Phoebe asked the shaman.

"I'm protecting myself."

"From what? You're a student. The bad guys are only after the teachers, right?"

"I'm not protecting my body, I'm protecting my powers. I sensed someone trying to invade mine, to use them for themselves."

"How do I know you're telling the truth?"

"You're an empath, you tell me."

Phoebe observed the shaman for a while then huffed in frustration. "I can't tell."

"It's because you're conflicted, questioning your own magic, your very future. It's affecting your powers.""I'm not questioning my future. Okay, maybe just a little bit. But how do you know that?"

"The wolf is a pack hound, but constantly searching for something she craves -" She dipped a cup into the pot above the fire and stood up. "- but cannot find. Seeing it means you're searching too. Drink this, take the vision quest. There you will find the answers we both seek."

Phoebe shook her head, "I'm not drinking that!"

"No? Tick, tick, tick, tick, tic."

Phoebe grabbed the cup and drank the liquid. As soon as she had done so, she fell into a vision in which she was walking down the manor stairs. Then a  demon appeared and threw a fireball. Only after fighting several more demons did the vision finally end and Phoebe landed on the floor of the cave.

"Ow!" Phoebe glanced to her shoulder to see a cut there.  "You didn't tell me I could get hurt on this vision quest."

"You didn't ask. The vision is of your future, Phoebe, it's no less real than anything else."

"And no less dangerous. Great. More demons in my future, it's exactly what I wanted."

"But are there anymore beyond the light? That's what you really wanna see, isn't it?" Before Phoebe could answer, Eliana walked into the cave.

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you, Pheobe!" She spotted the cut on Phoebe's shoulder. "Are you okay? What happened? The horseman?"

"No, uh, my inner demons, apparently."

"Well, it's good to see at least you have your head, unlike Piper."

"What!"

"Yeah, apparently the horseman got her. I don't know much, Leo just told me about it. He sent me to get you out of here before, you know, you get chopped too."

Phoebe looked from Eliana to the shaman and back again. "I think I should stay here."

"Why?"

"Because Gideon put me on this path for a reason. And I believe that there are answers here. I'll be okay, and you know where to find me if you need me."

"Gideon, whose he?"

"The elder who runs this place."

"Are you sure you want to stay?"

"Yes."

"Okay, but remember that she's a suspect too."

"Ready to try again?" asked the shaman as Eliana walked out.

\----------------------------------------------

From Piper's spot on the ledge, she heard a door open and the sound of voices. "What's that? Who is that?"

"Don't worry, it's just me and some of the more unusual suspects," Paige called out as she and her class entered the room out of the magic school door

"Wait, you think one of us is responsible?" said one of the men in surprise.

"What, you didn't know she thought that? What kind of telepath are you, anyway?" another student said as he pushed the boy.

"Stop picking on me!"

"Yeah? Or what?"

"Alright, guys, knock it off. You're in my house!" Paige yelled over the two.

"The Halliwell manor. I don't believe it. It's just like in the text!" another student exclaimed.

"It looks like my Grandma's house."

"Alright, alright, move it along, people. Let's go, other room -" Paige closed the door to the magic school and everyone walked into the conservatory. "Alright, is everybody here?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Kiss ass." another student coughed in response. Everyone laughed.

"Hey, watch your mouth!" Piper called out.

"Whoa, it's Piper Halliwell."

"Yeah, but only part of her. And not the good part either."

"Can it," Piper said, glaring at the student.

"Okay, here's the deal, people. We know that one of you is behind this. So nobody is going to leave here until we figure out who it is. So far nobody has gotten killed -" said Paige.

"Not yet, anyway," Piper added.

"So far this has just been a really stupid prank. So please, let's not let it go any further than that," Paige continued.

"Is Gideon gonna shut down the school?" one student asked Paige.

"Not unless he's forced to."

"Why don't you start with the conjurer?"

"Me? What about you, Quinton? You're the Sleepy Hollow buff."

"Yeah, but Slick's the shapeshifter."

"Hey, screw you, Zachary."

"Wait, you guys, just stop it!" Paige yelled.

"Seriously, why don't you just admit that you did it!"

Paige looked around to see Chris orb near by.

"I would never do anything to harm a Charmed One."

"You're passing the blame like it's going out of style."

Paige leaned over to Piper. "I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?"

Paige didn't bother answering. She walked into the kitchen where Chris had disappeared.

"What are you doing here?"

"I need your help."

"My help? That's rich with what you pulled. Listen, I have enough juvenile delinquents to take care of. Thanks." She turned to leave but Chris stopped her.

"Hey, please, just hear me out. I'm running out of time."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly that. Don't you see that's the only reason why I went to the demon. He can scan for evil. And maybe figure out who's gonna turn Wyatt since we haven't been able to."

"Okay, you're not making any sense."

"Paige, listen to me. I need you to trust me and Eliana. And I need you to get Piper and Leo to trust us too, before it's too late.

They paused as they heard the kids scream in the other room.

"The headless horseman!"

"Paige!" Piper shouted.

Paige and Chris ran into the conservatory.

"What happened?" Paige yelled as the headless horseman cantered around the room swinging his sword. The conservatory doors opened and he galloped outside. "Is everyone alright?"

"I think so."

"Head count. No jokes, just do it." Piper then spotted Chris. "What are you doing here?"

"Just trying to help."

"They're all here," said Paige in relief."

"I heard the alarm. What's this doing open?" Gideon said as he walked in through the open magic school door.

"One of the students must have opened it without my seeing." Paige answered.

"And the horseman?" Gideon asked.

It was Chris who answered. "Gone. Out those doors."

"You have to stop him."

"Okay, well, we have to figure out..." Paige started to say.

"No, you don't understand. People on the outside aren't protected like we are at school. They'll die!" Gideon cried out.

"Then we need Phoebe!" Piper stated.

"Eliana and I will get her, she stayed behind to keep an eye on Phoebe," Chris chimed in, with a hopeful glance at his mother. She nodded in agreement and he dashed out of the room.

"But you can't wait for her. You have to go after the horseman now!" Gideon told Paige.

"By myself? No. I can't vanquish him!" Paige said.

"You don't have to. All you have to do is lead him back to the school, so that at least nobody will be killed. Don't make your concerns about Richard, make you question yourself. You can do this, I'll help you." Gideon reassured her.

He took her hand and they orbed out. After a pause, one of the students starts to walk away.

"Ah-ah-ah. Where are you going?" Piper called out. The student looked at her and laughed. "Don't give me that look. I still got a mouth, I can turn you into a toad!"

\----------------------------------------------

"I don't understand why the horseman targeted him. And why did he pass up so many others along the way?" Paige said as she and Gideon walked back into the manor a few hours later.

"Granted it could've been a lot worse but it doesn't change my mind." said Gideon.

"The police said he was a killer, Gideon!" Paige countered, trying to persuade the man not to shut down magic school because of the person they had just watch die at the hands of the headless horseman.

"It doesn't make it right."

"No, it doesn't make it right but you shouldn't shut down the school because of it. We have the horseman contained, now we just need to find..."

"It's too late. The damage has already been done. When I started this school I made a promise that the magic within would never harm a soul, otherwise..."

He paused as a toad croaked loudly. They walked into the conservatory to see a toad sitting on the floor.

"Piper, are you okay?" Paige asked.

"Hunky-dory."

Paige turned to Gideon. "You, come with me."

"Anybody else wanna try me?" Piper asked the room as the two adults left.

\----------------------------------------------

A cloud of smoke filled the conservatory as the toad turned back into a student.

"Next time I give you warts -" Piper said to the student as the room suddenly froze. "Hey, who did that?Where did you come from?" An arm reached for Piper's head and grabbed her by the hair. "Hey, hey, ow. Paige!" Piper shouted.

But by the time Paige, Leo and Gideon ran in, Piper's head had gone.

"Piper? Oh my god. Piper!" Paige exclaimed.

"The door's still closed," Gideon observed.

"The kids are frozen," Leo said, looking around at them.

"Piper must have done it," Gideon stated.

"Without hands? I don't think so," Paige pointed out.

"Someone from the outside?" Leo suggested.

"That's impossible, we got here too fast. It has to be one of them," said Paige.

Gideon glanced at the kids. "The students? No, they don't possess that kind of power. Besides, they're frozen."

"Then one of them's faking it."

\----------------------------------------------

"Ow. Okay, you know what? Enough already!" Phoebe cried out as she felt roughly to the cave floor yet again.

"Every journey requires a sacrifice."

"My whole life is about sacrifice. If that's all my future holds, then I don't wanna see it."

"You're fighting it. Don't. Don't use your powers to get through. They're not working very well, anyway. Just let it come to you. Want it more than anything."

Phoebe drank from the cup again and entered the vision once more; not fighting the demons this time. She saw a screen of light in the room as a demon threw a fireball at her that flew straight through her. The rest of the attacks went right past her as well and Phoebe was able to walk towards the screen of light and step into it.

She opened her eyes to find herself in the conservatory. Two boys were there; one playing with a Game Boy as Piper walked in.

"Wyatt, let your little brother play with the game too, please."

"Little brother?" Phoebe said to herself, shocked as Paige orbed in with a little girl holding her hand.

"Great, you're already here, Phoebe. Can you take Eli to her doctor's appointment? I know I said I would, but I have too many papers to grade! Thank you." She left the room as quickly as she'd entered.

"The doctor?" Phoebe looked at Piper for an explanation.

"Yeah, we need to make sure our honorary niece is doing okay. It's been a week now and her skin is only getting worse. It's more inflamed then ever!" Besides, while you're there, you can have them check you out as well!"

Phoebe looked down to see that this version of herself was pregnant. Her eyes widened in shock as she felt her stomach.

"Sorry, Phoebe!" the little version of Eli said to Phoebe as she toddled her way across the room. "I know you had other plans!"

The vision-Phoebe looked down at the little girl and grabbed her hand as she led her outside and helped her into the car that was parked out front.

"This is silly, there's nothing wrong with me, I feel fine!"

The little girl brushed her brown hair out of her eyes and looked up at Phoebe.

"Sweetie, Piper is right, you're skin is burning up and your temperature is way higher than it should be, we need to get you checked out!"

The vision continued as Phoebe drove to the hospital and dropped little Eli off for her appointment before excusing herself to to try and find a doctor to check up on the baby growing inside of her.

The doctor looked her over and concluded that everything was fine, so Phoebe went back to see how things were going with Eli's appointment. As she walked into the doctor's office, she saw Eli glaring at the doctors back in anger. Then a fireball suddenly appeared in the little girl's palm and she looked down at it in shock. Thankfully it disappeared before the doctor turned back around.

Phoebe rushed into the room and got the child out of there as quickly as she could. They got back into the car but instead of driving off, Phoebe looked over to little Eli; who had tears pouring down her cheeks, and the two of them had a long talk before finally returning back to the manor. When they arrived, Wyatt and the other little boy came running down the steps to greet them.

"Aunt Phoebe? We need your help!"

Suddenly the vision ended and Phoebe found herself staring at Chris and Eliana.

"Phoebe, can you hear me? We need your help." Chris was saying. Phoebe nodded and he helped her to her feet. "Are you okay?"

"Uh, I don't know. Am I?" She looked at the shaman.

"You tell me. What'd you see?"

"Uh, I saw children, and my child. And a life without demons. Is that even possible?"

"With your powers you know by now what is truth and what is not. Embrace those powers again, embrace your path and it will lead you there."

"You don't know how much you've given me."

"You should go. So you can use your powers to help save our school."

\----------------------------------------------

"Oh, Phoebe, I'm so glad to see you, I was worried!" Paige cried out as Phoebe, Chris, and Eliana walked into the conservatory.

"What's the matter? Didn't you trust Eliana and I?" Chris said.

"Separate subject," Leo interjected.

"How's Piper?" Phoebe asked, ignoring the awkward glares.

Paige looked at her sister. "You're not gonna like it."

"She's been kidnapped," Leo finished for her.

"What!" Phoebe, Chris, and Eliana all shouted at the same time.

"That's the bad news. The good news is that she's here, somewhere," Paige added.

"Well, if one of the students took her, I can't sense which one it is," said Gideon in frustration.

Phoebe glanced at the frozen students and walked around them. "Maybe I can. Thanks to your wolf - I can sense pain, and anger, a lot of anger, wants revenge. Do any of them hate the high school?"

"Honey, they're teenagers, they all hate the school." Paige pointed out before pointing to one student in particular. "But he's a conjurer."

"No, it's not him - but who's this guy?"

"A telepath."

"Yeah, he's telepathing a whole lot of rage right now."

"Well, look who just solved the case!" the figure said suddenly giving up the charade of being frozen like the others.

"Zachary?" Gideon gasped.

"Surprise," the boy named Zach sarcastically before he suddenly disappeared.

"What happened? Where'd he go?" asked Chris.

"That wasn't Zachary, that was an astral projection," Leo said.

Gideon looked at Leo. "He doesn't have that power."

"No, but a teacher here does. And Herman's a conjurer and Piper can freeze," Paige said as she realized what Zach had been doing.

"He's using his telepathy to tap into other people's powers," said Phoebe as she picked up on Paige's train of thought. No one noticed Eliana shifting uncomfortably on her feet at the mention of her most useful trick.

"Where's the real Zachary?" said Leo.

"He's at school with Piper," Paige stated, confident that this was true.

"But why? What does he want with her?" Chris asked.

After arguing back and forth, they all finally decided that Phoebe and Paige should go back to the school to see if Zach was there.

"You don't think he'll kill her, do you?" Paige asked her sister as they walked the hallways.

"You know what? I have no idea."

"He's a smart kid. I just hope he's not luring us here."

Paige had just finished her sentence when the headless horseman appeared behind them and chopped off their heads before disappearing.

"So, now what are you guys gonna do?" Piper said to her sisters as Zach placed their heads next to hers on a table before walking off. "So who's bright idea was this anyway?" she added as neither of them said anything.

"We were trying to save you!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Yeah, good job on that one."

"And who went and got her head stolen?" Phoebe countered.

"While you were off contemplating your naval, while you still had one," Piper argued back.

"Guys, we're not getting anywhere arguing," Paige broke in.

"Actually, we're not getting anywhere because we don't have any bodies," Piper pointed out angrily.

"Okay, look, we said we were sorry!" said Phoebe.

"Can we try looking on the bright side? I mean, you know, we're still alive," Paige commented.

"Yeah, only because Zachary can't kill us in here."

"I don't think he would if he could, I mean, he practically apologised to us," said Paige, trying to defend Zach.

Phoebe looked at Paige. "I think she's right, actually, I didn't sense any anger from him, just a lot of sorrow."

"So what, he did this to us just to get us out of the way? To do what?" asked Piper.

"To get revenge on the school," Phoebe said.

"And Gideon," Paige added.

A few minutes passed before they decided to try and come up with a spell.

"You think a spell's gonna work?" Paige asked.

Piper glanced at her. "Well, now that we know who conjured the horseman, it should."

"We won't until we summon him. So let's just put our heads together and...you know what I mean, right" Phoebe said as they closed their eyes. The headless horsemen appeared and galloped towards them. "Okay, now, now, now."

"Power of three unite, to end this grisly fright, reverse the rolls and make us whole."

The sisters chanted and the headless horseman explodes and disappeared as Piper, Phoebe and Paige got their bodies back.

"Oh, thank god, it worked!" Paige exclaimed as she glanced at Phoebe, who was patting her body all over. "You want me to get you a room?"

"Let's go, let's go, let's go," Piper urged them as she ushered them to the door.

\----------------------------------------------

"Why take it out on others, Zachary" asked Gideon as he lay on his back with a sword hovering inches above his neck. "Why not just come after me?"

"Because I want you to suffer, Gideon. Like you made me suffer ever since I got here. I want you to see your precious school destroyed. Bit by bit."

"But that doesn't give you the right to kill an innocent."

"You scolding me now? You gonna give me a demerit? That wasn't supposed to happen. I just wanted the sisters out of the way. The horseman's only supposed to hurt evil."

"Evil? You think teachers are evil?"

"They are when they keep me here against my wishes. When they take me away from my family, my home, without even thinking about what I want."

"Why didn't you come to me?"

"I did, damn it! Every time I snuck out, every time I got in trouble. But you didn't care, you wouldn't listen."

"We're listening," Paige said as her and her sisters entered the room. "It's okay, we're not gonna hurt you."

Phoebe nodded, "we're here to help."

"How'd you get out?" Gideon asked in surprise.

"Magic." Piper stated.

"See, sometimes it takes us away from our lives as well, a lot more than we'd like it to," Paige said as she walked over to Zach.

"But it's who we are whether we like it or not. We can't change that and neither can you," Piper added.

"You have to accept it," Phoebe chimed in.

"You have to realise this is not worth throwing your life away for. Just let it go. That's it. Easy," Paige said as Zach finally let the dagger fall harmlessly to the ground.

\----------------------------------------------

"Hey, guys. Wasn't Ziggy Marley supposed to play here before?" Paige asked as she joined her sisters at P3 later that night.

"Yeah, he had to reschedule. So how's Zachary?" Piper replied.

"He's good. He's at home with his family now, but I wouldn't be surprised to see him back at Magic School someday. I think he heard us about accepting himself."

"So then you're not gonna bind his powers?"

"No, he didn't want me to. But he gave me a good idea about maybe doing it for somebody else."

"Richard?" Phoebe guessed.

"Yeah. You know, if he can't handle it, why should he have to? Maybe I can finally help him accept that."

"You're gonna make a really good teacher one day, Paige," Phoebe commented.

"Teacher?"

"Yes, in Magic School. I saw it with my very own...vision."

"Yeah, I don't think she's gonna be teaching Wyatt any time soon. Suddenly I'm more concerned about separating him from his family, than raising him as an only child," said Piper.

"Actually, there might be a day that you don't have to be concerned about that," Phoebe said, being mysteriously vague.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying," Phoebe said as she spotted Chris and Eliana walking in; both of them glancing around nervously, not knowing if they were going to be sent away again.

"What are you just saying? Excuse me!" Piper called out as Phoebe walked off towards Chris and Eliana.

"Hey," she said to them as they walked to the back room for privacy.

"Hey. So did you come here to kick us out?" Chris asked tiredly, it had been a long day.

"Uh, no, actually, I came here to ask both of you a question."

"What?"

"I need you to be honest with me. No games, no running away, just the truth."

"Okay," said Chris hesitantly.

"Are you Wyatt's little brother?"

"Only if I can get Piper and Leo back together in time."

There was a pause as Phoebe and Chris stared at each other. Chris shuffled his feet uncomfortably and cleared his throat. "You said you had a question for both of us? What did you want to ask Eliana?"

"Um...actually, I have a feeling she'd rather I asked her when you weren't here, so, I'm sorry, but can we have a second alone?" Chris glanced between the two girls before nodding and walking out.

Phoebe turned to Eliana and now it was the future-girl's turn to be nervous.

"Uh, what - what did you want to ask me?"

"Are you a demon?"

Eliana opened and closed her mouth as she tried to find something to say.

"Don't bother denying it, I'm an empath - I would sense it if you tried."

"Okay, fine. Yes - yes I am, but only half! And please don't tell the others! No one knows in the future - besides you and I'd really rather keep it that way." she sighed in relief as Phoebe nodded in agreement.

"So what powers do you have exactly? You never said."

"Well, as you know, I can make fireballs - well I can control the element in general as well, I can shimmer, but other than that, the only power I know of is telepathy; which as you saw from Zach today, I can use to borrow other's powers."

"Wow - so, how exactly did you end up living with us?"

"To be honest, I have no idea. I don't really remember much from before I met all of you - I asked multiple times, but everyone refused to say anything about it - though you said it was because an angel of destiny told you not to speak of it. All I know is that I will be forever grateful for everything you guys have done for me! - anything else you'd like to ask me?"

"Just - is there anything you can tell me about my baby? Who's the father? Is she alright in the future? -" Phoebe rambled off a list of questions, never noticing the sad look in Eliana's eyes.

She orbed out an hour later and sat down next to Chris on their 'bed'.

"What's wrong?" he asked when he saw the expression on her face.

"Nothing, she just kept asking about her baby. She had a vision that she was pregnant - at least I was able to use the 'future consequences' card. I didn't have the heart to tell her the baby was never born! You know how obsessed she gets in the future with her search for the child she claims she was destined to have. It nearly drove her insane! I still don't get why she couldn't accept the fact that the child died at birth! What was all that nonsense about interference or whatever?"

"Who knows, you know how much she wanted to have a daughter! After losing her child with Cole, a second loss just sent her over the edge. It'd be enough to drive anyone crazy!"

"Yeah, I can't stop thinking about how messed up the whole situation is. She was like a mom to me, all of them were - are - will be? - I don't want her to go through that all over again!"

"Who knows, maybe things will be different when we our task is finished," Chris reassured her as he pulled her in for a hug.

(Let me know what you guys thought! I was so stuck with the vision cuz I have to many ideas about the eventual future that I didn't want to give anything away/make it harder to explain when I finally get to those parts so...that was the best I could come up with for now)


	9. Trust

3rd Person POV

Chris woke up the next morning to find Eliana still wrapped tightly in his arms. He gazed down at her sleeping figure as he brushed away a few stray strands of her hair. She looked so peaceful. After a few minutes, he finally managed to tear his eyes away from her and stared up at the rotting ceiling as he let his mind wander. It wasn't long before his thoughts drifted to Phoebe and the fact that she now knew who he was. The knowledge that his secret had been revealed scared him more than he cared to admit. His face twisted in worry as he thought about all the possible consequences.

He was so focused on his thoughts, that he didn't notice Eliana shift in his arms slightly as she woke up. She blinked up in confusion at the body she was wrapped around before relaxing as she saw who it was. She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and observed Chris more closely. "What's wrong, Chris?"

Chris looked down at her in surprise as he finally noticed that she was awake. "Nothing, I'm sorry if I woke you - go back to sleep," he replied.

"Chris, it hasn't been that long! Even without my powers, I can still tell when there's something bothering you - talk to me."

Chris sighed heavily and ruffled his hair. After a moment of hesitation, he finally gave in and decided to tell her.

"I was just thinking about how Phoebe knows who I am now. It just...made me realize that I've been so focused on Baby Wyatt that I might have overlooked a few things."

"Like what?"

"Well, as much as I despise Leo, by making him an elder earlier than he was supposed to be, I might have, might have messed with my own timeline..."

"What do you mean? Come on Chris, just spit it out!"

"What if, what if they don't get back together and I'm never born! Or what if mom finds someone else!"

"Oh...oh yeah, I see what you mean...well, there's still time! How bout we try to pinpoint when exactly you were - ya know, conceived. Once we figure that out, we can do what we can to fix things before it's too late!"

"No, we can't afford to lose focus! Protecting Baby Wyatt should be our first priority"

"Of course! But we're talking about your very existence, Chris! You can't ignore this! Look, I'll promise to stay focused on finding out who turns Wyatt if you promise to focus on taking care of yourself - deal?" Eliana grinned as she raised her hand and stuck out her pinky finger like she used to do with him when they were little.

"You're such a child!" Chris said, rolling his eyes as he returned the gesture.

"and you're a cranky old man - is that a bald spot I see?" Eliana retorted as she stuck her tongue out. They tried to glare at each other but it wasn't long before they both burst out laughing.

"Come on, the sun won't wait for us," Eliana sighed as she stopped laughing and got out of bed.

\----------------------------------------------

The next few weeks flew by in a blur. Chris spent his time avoiding Phoebe and attempting to figure out when his conception date was, while Eliana watched over Baby Wyatt. She spent so much time hovering, that Piper eventually had no choice but to agree to Phoebe's suggestion that Eliana move back into the basement. While Eliana was grateful for Phoebe's support, she was avoiding the sister just as much as Chris was. She could tell that Phoebe was still struggling to wrap her mind around Chris being her nephew and didn't want to make things anymore complicated. With Chris refusing to respond to Phoebe's calls, this strategy didn't work very well. It wasn't long before Phoebe had given up on Chris and turned her attention towards Eliana.

\----------------------------------------------

"Oh, come on! There must be something you can tell me!"

"Phoebe, I told you, I can't tell you anything about the future! You already know too much as it is, so leave it alone!"

Phoebe looked at the girl before her and huffed in annoyance. Ever since her vision at magic school, she hadn't been able to get the image of a beautiful little girl out of her head. But Eliana was refusing to reveal any information about the future. Phoebe was just opening her mouth to try a different tactic, when they both heard a loud crash from Baby Wyatt's room.

They raced down the hall and arrived in time to see Piper being tossed into the bookshelf by a large demon. Phoebe ran forward and aimed a kick towards the demon's head, only to be sent flying across the room as well. Piper sat up and gestured towards the demon as Eliana ran to pick up Baby Wyatt. The demon exploded with a loud bang, only to be replaced by three more.

"Leo!" Eliana cried out. Lights filled the room as Leo orbed in. "There's going to be too many demons coming soon, you need to get Wyatt out of here, now!" she shouted at him as she handed him his son. Leo nodded and quickly orbed out.

Now that her hands were free, Eliana was able to join the fight and manged to shove one of the demons into the path of a fireball. The three girls fought demon after demon but more kept coming.

"Phoebe, duck!" Eliana shouted as she pulled out a dagger from her boot. It landed in the back of a demon with a thud and he burst into flames. Eliana spun, weaved, and slashed her way around the room as more demons continued to shimmer in - it wasn't long before she got swept away in the moment and felt herself falling back on the years of training He had put her through. Even with the sister's help, there were too many for her to handle without using magic so as much as she hated having to resort to it, she closed her eyes and used her telepathy to reach out and connect with the minds of every demon in the room. After struggling for a moment, she managed it and clenched her hands into fists as she focused hard on sending out a single command.

Phoebe and Piper stared around the room in shock as the demons suddenly stopped moving. Next thing they knew, the demons had turned on each other until only one was left. When he saw that he was the last, he readjusted his grip and drove his sword into his stomach - exploding like all the rest.

"What the hell just happened?" Piper exclaimed as Phoebe helped her back to her feet.

"Don't ask me, ask the telepath!" Phoebe replied.

"Phoebe!" Eliana cried out in irritation as she opened her eyes.

"Oops, sorry!"

"Wait, your a telepath?" asked Piper, looking at Eliana in surprise.

"Yes," the girl replied slowly.

"Why didn't you tell us before? and how does Phoebe know?" said Piper, feeling irritated by the continued secrets.

"I don't know, maybe because you three; along with Leo and Chris, barely trusted me as it was when I first arrived? It's not like I go up to people who just met me and tell them, 'Hey, I'm Eliana. I can get inside your head, control your actions, and use your powers!' - you would have tried to vanquish me on the spot; not that it would have worked, but I thought I'd save us all the drama!" Eliana shouted angrily.

"Alright, alright, calm down! I get it. So what exactly did you do to the demons?" asked Piper.

"I took over their minds and commanded them to turn on themselves, was that not obvious?"

"Hey, watch your tone, young lady!"

"Sorry, it's not easy linking myself to that many minds at one time, takes a lot of power - makes me a little irritable afterwards, nothing personal!" Eliana gasped out as she took a step forward and collapsed to the floor.

Phoebe managed to catch her just in time and Piper helped her carry Eliana over to the couch in the living room.

"Leo, Chris!" Piper called out.

"yeah, what's up?" Chris asked as he and Leo orbed in. He caught sight of Eliana and rushed over to her. "What the hell happened to her" he shouted in worry as Piper took Baby Wyatt from Leo.

"Demons, lots of demons," Piper stated. Leo bent down over Eliana and hovered his hands over her body. A golden light erupted from his palms but nothing seemed to happen.

"It's not working! Why isn't it working!" Chris yelled at Leo.

"I don't know! Piper, what exactly happened?"

"Like I said, lots of demons. They came out of the blue and went after Wyatt. There were too many for us to handle and then suddenly they started killing each other. Apparently, Eliana's a telepath. She said she forced herself into their minds and commanded them to turn on one another - then she passed out," Piper explained.

"She's a telepath?" Chris's eyes widened at the news.

"Yeah, didn't you know?" asked Phoebe.

"No...actually, now that I think about it, I've never really seen her use any powers other than her cloaking ability and empathy. Her other powers must have come after - after we stopped talking," Chris looked down at Eliana sadly as he realized there was still so much he didn't know about her.

"She's an empath?" Phoebe said in surprise.

"Well, now that I know she's a telepath, I don't think so. She was always really good at sensing things when we were growing up, so we just assumed she was empathic, but it's probably just an extension of her telepathy," Chris mused. Phoebe nodded her understanding.

"Well that would explain why I can't heal her. There's no physical wound, she's just mentally exhausted. The only thing that'll work is for her to sleep it off," Leo stated as he stood up and went to get a blanket.

When he came back, Chris took the blanket from him and gently spread it over Eliana.

"Is there something going on between the two of them?" Piper whispered, leaning over to Phoebe as they watched their neurotic whitelighter show a side of himself that they had never seen.

Phoebe shrugged as they left the room and headed up the stairs to check the book and identify the demons who had just attacked.

(Comment your thoughts! Needed a filler to lead to the next chapter but didn't really know what to write so I whipped this up)


	10. I Dream of Phoebe

3rd Person POV

"Good morning. Any phone calls?" Phoebe asked as she walked into the Bay Mirror and up to her assistant.

"Take your pick. We've got adulterers, cross-dressers, thirty-four year old virgins, and, oh, your nephew."

"Oh, Chris called?"

"No, Wyatt. Um, actually, I think Piper did the dialling, but. You have another nephew?"

"Um, no, uh, but-but, you know, maybe some day I will. You know what I mean? Okay" Phoebe dashed off to her office and jumps in surprise when she turns around to see Chris waiting for her there.

"Phoebe, I need your help," Chris told her.

"I've been calling for you all week. Didn't you hear me?"

"For the first couple of days, yeah. Then I put you on mute."

"You can put me on mute?"

"I had to, I was busy. Now, I need your help."

"Oh, yeah, and I need yours too, because you come here, you drop this bombshell on me, and you expect me to keep this secret? And I don't even know why I'm keeping the secret," ranted Phoebe, finally letting out the emotions she'd been bottling up lately. Not only was she keeping Chris's secret, she was also trying to keep Eliana's - which was hard for her to do - she had never been good at keeping things to herself!

"Nobody can find out Piper and Leo are my parents. It could mess with the whole future!" Chris said.

"Yeah, well, if you didn't want anybody to know, I don't know why you told me."

"I told you because you busted me, and I'm glad you did. I have been so focused on protecting Wyatt, I've completely forgotten about me. This month is my conception date."

"Your conception date?" Phoebe asked, her face scrunching up at the thought.

"That's where I've been. Oracles, fortune tellers, soothsayers they all say the same thing. If mum and dad don't screw this month, I'm screwed!" Chris explained.

"Okay, I'm just trying to get used to you being my nephew. I never hit on you, did I?" asked Phoebe, as she sighed and sat down at her desk.

It was Chris's turn to scrunch up his face in disgust. "What? No!"

"Oh, thank god."

"Can we focus here, please? Mum and dad need to have sex. Now who's gonna tell them? You or me?"

"No, nobody's gonna tell them because we're not gonna reopen those wounds!" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Okay. So how do we get them back together?"

"W-we? There is no we here. We don't. You're the one that split them up. And why did you split them up?"

"Leo had to become an Elder to make room for me as your Whitelighter. It was the only way I could protect Wyatt from turning evil," Chris said calmly.

Phoebe looked at her nephew in astonishment. "You're unbelievable. I mean, most kids who are the cause of their parents divorce actually feel guilty. And you're sitting here like it's part of your master plan!" she shouted.

"I'm sensing some real issues here," replied Chris.

"Oh, you're damn right there are issues. You can't just pop in from the future and play with people's lives because your big brother picked on you!"

"He picked on the world, Phoebe!" Chris yelled back.

"I'm not finished. Your parents were happy until you split them up. And now you want my help because you didn't think this all the way through?" the two looked at each other in silence until Phoebe's breathing finally calmed down.

"Feel better?" Chris asked, half amused.

"Yes."

His face turned serious again at his next words. "Will you help me?"

"No. Oh, I don't know!" Phoebe rubbed the sides of her head as she felt a headache coming on.

"If I'm not conceived in the next couple of weeks, I'll disappear forever!" Chris stated as he picked up a letter from the stack on Phoebe's desk. "You are willing to help complete strangers. How about family?" As Phoebe reached out to take the letter, she was sent forward into a premonition. "What is it? What'd you see?" asked Chris when he saw that she had opened her eyes again.

"A woman being attacked," Phoebe answered.

"Where?"

\----------------------------------------------

"Looks like a dig site," Phoebe said as she and Chris walked through the entrance of a cave.

"A desert in the middle east. Are you sure your scrying wasn't off?" Chris asked as he looked around in disbelief.

"Maybe Jinny is an archaeologist?" Phoebe suggested.

"Yeah, why would an archaeologist in the middle east send a letter to an advice columnist in San Francisco?"

"She said she was with a controlling man!"

"Okay, you're missing my point. What happens if this is a trap?" Chris continued to look around and stopped as he saw a pile of bones. "What is that?" he cried out as he bent down to examine them. As he did so, a sword flew past above his head. They turn around to see two Arabians standing near the cave entrance. They shouted words at Phoebe and Chris and moved forward to attack. Phoebe threw a potion at them and they both blew up.

"You think anyone heard them?" asked Phoebe.

A ball of light suddenly hit Chris in the shoulder and knocked him to the ground as a guy on a flying carpet soared in holding a bottle. Chris used his telekinesis to knock down some trestles in front of the man, which caused him to drop the bottle.

"No!" the man shouted as he dove to catch it. Before he could grab it, Phoebe threw another potion. While her aim was off, it did manage to force the stranger to fly off and Phoebe rushed to Chris's side.

"Are you okay?"

"I'll be fine. Was that a flying carpet?"

Phoebe helped Chris stand and her gaze suddenly fell on the bottle. "What is that?" She went over to the bottle and picked it up. As she wiped off the dirt, pink smoke escaped out of the bottle and Jinny, the Genie appeared.

"Thank you for responding to my letter!" Jinny cried out happily.

"Wait, are you Jinny?" Phoebe exclaimed in surprise.

"At your service, master!"

\----------------------------------------------

"Oh my god, Chris! What happened!" Eliana exclaimed as he orbed into the conservatory with Phoebe.

She ran forward and helped him down onto a couch.

"Can you heal him?" Phoebe asked.

"Yeah, I can borrow Leo's power," Eliana stated as she hovered her hands over Chris's wound.

"I could heal him, master. Your warrior needs his strength. My last master will be coming back for me," Jinny said, trying to be helpful.

"I think she's got it under control," Phoebe replied, gesturing to Eliana who was now healing Chris.

"Good idea, save your wishes."

"Did you get a good look at the demon?" Eliana asked Phoebe.

"I did, and when we're done here I'll go up to the Book of Shadows and check it out. I also called Paige to see if she can keep an eye on Jinny for me."

"There is no need to guard me. Even if I was not bound to serve you I would do it anyway for sparing me from Bosk," said Jinny.

Phoebe looked at the genie in confusion, "Bosk?"

"My last master. He's cruel, even for a demon. And I would know. My bottle has been passed around from demon to demon for centuries."

"That's terrible!" Eliana cried out. Chris glanced at her, hearing the emotion in her voice and guessing the cause.

"You can not begin to know. That is why I got a message to Phoebe. I knew if she had my bottle she would wish me free."

"No wishes. I know all about Genies. You're tricksters," Phoebe stated, remembering the last time she had encountered a genie.

"Listen, I gotta go back upstairs and put Wyatt down for a nap, you think you guys can handle this without Piper?" Eliana asked as she stood up.

Chris looked as Eliana. "Where is Piper?"

"On a date," Leo answered as he walked into the room.

"On a date in the middle of the day?"

"Yeah, Greg works nights," Phoebe chimed in.

Chris closed his eyes as he thought back. "Greg, Greg. Greg, the fireman? You mean the one she's insanely sexually attracted to? Doesn't that bother you?" He looked over to Leo.

"No. If it makes her happy, that's all that matters."

"Oh, come on! What about all this forbidden lovers, you and me against the world stuff? That just doesn't go away!" Chris argued, his fear rising.

"You know, Chris, it's a little late for male bonding. Especially since I'm petitioning the other Elders to send you back to your time - Eliana as well."

"What?" Chris stood up angrily.

Phoebe looked at her brother in-law. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Even though Chris's intensions are good, his methods have put us all at risk. So, he's going back - and as helpful as Eliana has been, there's no reason for her to stay either."

"You mean your abandoning me again," Chris explained in irritation. Eliana walked over to him and gave his hand a quick squeeze as she tried to reassure him.

"Look, you two did your job, you warned us about an evil that was after Wyatt. I think we can handle it from here!" Leo replied before orbing out.

"I've gotta stop him!" Chris called out.

"Don't worry, I'll talk to Leo," Phoebe said.

"No, no, not Leo. Greg, the fireman. He's about to sleep with my mum!" Chris shouted as he orbed out.

"I really wish you wouldn't do that!" Phoebe cried out in annoyance.

Jinny put her hands together and blinked and suddenly Chris orbed back in.

"What just happened?"

"Your wish is my command, master!" Jinny said happily.

They heard the front door open and close.

"Alright, where's the Genie?" Paige called out as she walked into the conservatory. "Oh my god, you landed one!"

"She's a Genie, not a trout," said Phoebe, looking at her sister.

"You still have two wishes, master. I suggest you save one for Bosk," Jinny stated.

Phoebe glanced at Jinny. "I told you, no wishes. We're gonna do this our way."

"But you can not handle him. Nobody can. He has a flying carpet and an army of forty thieves!"

"Thirty-eight. I vanquished two!" Phoebe pointed out.

"Let me guess. He wanted a crew and a nice ride. Original for a demon's wish, yeah?" Paige commented.

"Yes. And if Bosk gets me back, he will force me to grant his third wish."

"What's his third wish?" Paige asked as large diamond earrings suddenly appeared on her ears.

"Did you do that?" Phoebe exclaimed, looking at Jinny.

"No, but they are lovely. Who conjured them for you?"

"My boyfriend, Richard. He's been showering me with gifts all week," Paige sighed heavily.

"I thought you were gonna talk to him about binding his powers?" stated Phoebe.

"I have but every time I bring it up I just get another present. Luxury problem I know, but still."

"Yeah, not good. Back to the demon. Uh, what was his third wish?"

"Zanbar," Jinny whispered.

"Zanbar?"

"What's Zanbar?"

"The lost city. Before being swallowed up by the desert, it was the seat of power for an evil empire."

"Phoebe? Will you do something, please? I can't orb!" Chris called out as he walked back into the room. Before Phoebe could respond, a diamond bracelet appeared on Paige's arm.

"Damn him!" she muttered.

"You know, Paige, if he won't listen to you, maybe he'll listen to his family?" Phoebe suggested.

"Most of them are dead. Remember, the feud," Paige replied.

"Please, we do not have time for this. If Bosk captures me, Zanbar will rise again from the dust! interrupted Jinny.

"It's just a city," Paige shrugged.

"A city of magic. Bosk has been using his thieves to search for its' former site. If he finds it and wishes it back, there will be no stopping him. That is why you must wish me free, master. If I am not a Genie, it will solve your problems and mine. I beg you."

"Hey, a little help here, please?" Chris piped up as Paige's clothes changed into a black evening dress.

"Okay, I'm losing my mind. Uh, Paige, go to Richard, deal with it so you can help us," Phoebe exclaimed.

"Okay," Paige said, orbing out.

Phoebe turned to Chris. "You, I will help you get your parents back together but it has to be on my terms. Agreed?"

"Agreed."

"Go get Piper, we could use her help. Uh, I wish that he could orb." Jinny put her hands together and blinked. Chris orbed out. "And we need to find a vanquishing potion for that demon," Phoebe said, turning to look at Jinny and Eliana.

"Oh, yes, master."

"Phoebe," Phoebe corrected.

"Yes, master Phoebe!" Jinny said, not understanding.

\----------------------------------------------

"Piper! Piper!" Chris shouted as he knocked on the door to Greg's place; Piper and Greg were sitting on the couch making out.

"Forget it," Piper told Greg.

"I know you're in there. Please open the door now!" Chris continued.

"Just a sec," Piper said to Greg as she got up and went to the door. She yanked it open and glared at the whitelighter. "Go away!"

"We have an emergency," Chris explained, giving Greg a cold stare as he came over to stand behind Piper.

"Is there a problem here?"

"Yeah, many problems, many levels. Piper has to come home now," spat Chris.

"Excuse me? Who are you again?"

"I'm a friend of her husband's."

"Ex-husband, and he's not really a great friend. Um, it's okay, I got it," Piper clarified.

"Well, I'm here if you need me," Greg said, kissing her before walking back into the room.

"What is this big emergency? Can't it wait an hour or two?" Piper complained as she closed the door behind her to give them privacy.

"No, it can't. There's a demon on the loose, a Genie running amuck, and it took me two wishes to get here!"

"You can't make wishes with Genies!" Piper exclaimed.

"See, we need you. Come on, let's orb," Chris said, grabbing her hand.

"No, no, no. Listen. I am not gonna leave him high and dry again without an explanation. So your demon can wait five minutes!"

\----------------------------------------------

"He was my master once. And him too. And her," Jinny stated as she flipped through the pages of the Book of Shadows.

"Boy, you sure got around. How did so many demons get a hold of you, anyway?" asked Phoebe.

"Some bought, some stole. I changed hands so many times I lost track."

"I'm sorry we can't set you free. But wishing is just too risky right now," Eliana said sympathetically - knowing full well how Jinny must be feeling.

Just then, Piper and Chris orbed in.

"Okay, let's go. Greg's not gonna wait forever!" Piper stated.

"Well, then you should dump him!" Chris argued.

Piper looked at him in surprise. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"He's just being over protective," Eliana explained, elbowing Chris as he opened his mouth to say something else.

Piper glanced over at Jinny. "I take it you're the Genie?"

"Jinny," Jinny told her.

"Jinny the Genie," Phoebe said sarcastically.

"Of course. Who's the demon?" Piper said, raising her brows at the irony in Jinny's name.

"Uh -" Chris went over to the Book of Shadows and looked at the page on Bosk. "He's a low level demon with minimal powers. There's a vanquishing potion."

"Yeah, that's what we're working on," said Phoebe, gesturing to herself and Eliana.

"Good. Then you're almost done with me too. Okay, so what, your plan is to summon him to us?" asked Piper.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking," Phoebe confirmed.

Chris looked at his mother in suspicion. "What's the rush?"

"Well, not that it's any of your business but Greg's shift starts in a few hours and I won't see him for three days. So I'm gonna go call him - and I'd put the Genie back in the bottle just to be safe. No offence, but we've been burned before," Piper suggested before leaving the room.

Phoebe picked up the bottle and turned to Jinny. "Do you mind?"

"Yes, master," Jinny grumbled as she was sucked back into the bottle.

"I feel so bad," Phoebe mumbled.

"As well you should. If we don't do something soon, I can end up half fireman instead of half Whitelighter," Chris replied.

"Oh, for goodness sake."

"Look, I'm running out of time here. So what do you say we get to use that Genie to make mum and dad...you know."

"That's vile. And against the rules. I would think you wouldn't want to be conceived that way," Phoebe exclaimed.

"Well, beats not being conceived at all."

"Look, I told you I would help you on my terms, okay? So back off."

"What are your terms?"

"Hmm, not really sure yet. But the potion is done. As soon as Piper gets back we are ready to go."

As she said this, Bosk came crashing through the window on his flying carpet, knocking Chris to the floor. Eliana grabbed the potion off of the table and threw it at Bosk but the pendent around his neck blocked it.

"Not this time!" Bosk shouted.

"Jinny, I wish you free!" Phoebe yelled as Bosk went to grab the bottle.

Pink smoke escaped out of the bottle and Jinny appeared wearing black clothes.

"Well, it's about time. Who's the master now?" Jinny threw a fireball at Bosk; which vanquished him. As Jinny reached for the bottle, Piper walked in and called out to Chris.

He held out his hand and the bottle flew into it. Piper tried to blow Jinny up but Jinny ducked and jumped on the flying carpet - soaring out of the window.

"Where's Phoebe?" Eliana asked as she helped Chris get up.

Phoebe's voice filled the room, but it sounded faint. "Here. In here!" Chris looked down at the bottle and saw Phoebe dressed in a blue Genie costume. "Hello, master."

\----------------------------------------------

"Will you come out of there, please?" Piper cried out an hour later.

"I can't. I don't know how. Try commanding me!"

"Uh, okay. Get the hell outta there!"

"No, not you. My master," Phoebe said, gesturing to Chris.

Chris looked inside the bottle in surprise. "You mean me?"

"Well, yeah, you did pick up the bottle, didn't you?"

"Alright, get out of the bottle. I command you," Chris stated.

Blue smoke rose out of the bottle and Phoebe appeared. Piper and Eliana burst into laughter as their eyes landed on Phoebe.

"You look ridiculous," Piper told her sister.

Phoebe threw her hands up in irritation. "I feel ridiculous!"

"How am I supposed to get back to Greg now with this?" Piper cried out, still laughing.

"Is that all you care about? Would you look at me. I am trapped in pantaloons right now. Where is the mirror?" She walked over to the mirror. "Oh, and why do I always get stuck with the wig?"

"Trust me, you don't. Leo!" Piper called out.

"Have you ever noticed that Leo is the first person you call in your time of need?" Chris asked as Leo orbed in.

"Uh-oh," Leo stated as his eyes landed on Phoebe.

"Yeah, right, uh-oh," Phoebe echoed.

Piper glanced at Phoebe, "I still can't believe you made a wish with a Genie. You know better than that."

"I thought she was an innocent. How was I to know that I was gonna unleash a demon!" Phoebe cried out.

Leo picked up the bottle. "It says so right here."

"Oh, right, right there - in Arabic."

"There's a warning label on the Genie bottle?" Piper asked.

"Yeah. An ancient sorcerer condemned a demon into the bottle for not marrying him. It says whoever tried to free her would have to switch places with her. Missed a big one here, bud," said Leo, turning to look at Chris.

"You wanna pin this on me?" shouted Chris angrily.

"Leo, it's not his fault, it's my fault!" Phoebe stated.

Piper turned to Phoebe. "How come your empathy thing didn't give her away?"

"She tricked me and obviously the book too."

"Let's just figure out a way to fix this, okay?" Eliana said.

"Well, the only way to fix it is to get the demon to wish Phoebe free, reverse the magic," Leo explained.

"That's what we need to do then," Phoebe said.

Piper grabbed the phone, "I'll call Paige."

"Yes. I do believe the element of surprise is very important here," Phoebe told her.

Chris looked at her. "You sure? Because we could always take our time with this plan, you know, keep Piper around just a little bit longer."

"Yes, master."

"Good, I'm glad you agree."

"Actually, I don't agree, but I-I can't...How am I supposed to take charge and take commands all at the same time?" Phoebe complained.

"Well, you won't have to. Chris and Eliana are coming back up there with me. The Elders have agreed to send them back to their time.

"What?" Chris and Eliana shouted, together.

"You don't know what you're doing here, Leo," Phoebe said.

Leo ignored her and turned to Chris. "You don't belong here. And as your Whitelighter, he's doing more harm than good."

"You're so full of it. This isn't about me being a bad Whitelighter, it's about you feeling like I've let you down somehow. So whatever issues you might have with me, I wish you would just get over it already!" Chris yelled. Phoebe put her hands together and blinked. "Leo?" said Chris hesitantly.

"Of course I forgive you, man. You don't have to yell. All you gotta do is ask," Leo laughed.

"I did?"

"Yeah. And listen, with that whole going back to the future thing, you know, don't even worry about it because I'll talk to the other Elders and we're gonna work it all out, okay? It's no big deal, okay? Come on, give me a hug!" He pulled Chris into a hug which Chris awkwardly returned.

\----------------------------------------------

"What do you mean she didn't read the warning label?" Paige asked Piper as she walked through Richard's house with her phone in hand.

"I'll explain later. The bottom line is we need you home now," Piper's voice said through the phone.

"Well, I can't. I'm kind of in the middle of saving Richard right now. I took Phoebe's advice, I got his family here."

"I thought most of his relatives were dead."

"Uh-huh, they are."

"You're holding a magical intervention with ghosts?"

"Well, I thought about it and I realized that one of Richard's problems is that he's got no family here. He's got no support system. So the burden of helping him has kind of fallen on me."

"Okay, fine. Hey, maybe since you have all those ghosts there, you can get one to help us out when you're done."

"Help us do what?"

"What's going on here?" Richard asked as he walked into the house to see his relatives.

"Uh, I'll call you back," Paige told her sister.

\----------------------------------------------

"Hey, Piper says they're ready for those crystals. Genie Phoebe's getting on her last nerves down there. What are you doing?" Chris said as he walked into the attic to see Leo at the table trying to write a note.

"Writing you an apology. I just, I can't seem to get it right."

"Leo, come on, man, you don't need to do that."

"No, I know I don't need to but I want to. It feels good to forgive."

"Yeah, why don't you just hold onto that feeling, okay? We've gotta go help the sisters."

"Alright, well, in a minute. This is just as important. "Dear Chris..."

"Alright, alright, enough already. You said you're sorry, let's not go overboard," Chris said, as Leo sighed and crumpled up a piece of paper and restarted.

"Okay, but after everything I've put you through, I feel like I owe it to you."

"Honestly, a letter's not gonna mean a hell of a lot to me. I got plenty of them growing up," Chris said, trying not to think about all the letters Leo had sent him over the years.

"I'm sorry," Leo asked, looking at Chris in confusion.

"Uh, from my father. He wasn't around much," Chris explained lamely.

"That's awful. You wanna talk about it?"

"No. What I want for you is to grab the crystals and go downstairs to where Piper is. Do you remember her?"

"Sure. But right now I'm a little more concerned about you. You seem a little stressed," Leo observed.

Chris sighed heavily. "Yeah, you're damn right I'm stressed. I'm concerned about you two. You two need to get back together already. Any chance that's gonna happen?"

"I don't think so. But thanks for caring, man. It means a lot."

"Wait. You still love her, I know you do. How could you just throw that away?"

"That's a little personal don't you think?" Leo stated, shifting uncomfortably in his seat.

"More than you know. Look, are you telling me that there is no chance that you and Piper are gonna hook up in let's say, I don't know, the next couple of weeks?"

"Actually, yeah, that's what I'm saying. We've both moved on, and nothing short of a miracle can make that happen."

\----------------------------------------------

"Uh-uh-uh, the wording's not quite right there. Jinny is an upper-level demon!" Phoebe told Piper, as she hovered over her sister's shoulder.

"Hey, I don't need a bossy Genie on my back. I'm giving up a lot to be here. I'll write the vanquishing spell the way I want."

"You should invoke the name of..."

"Do I need to call Chris to shut you up?"

"You wouldn't!" Phoebe gasped at Piper as Paige orbed into the room.

"Keep pushing me," Piper replied, before glancing to Paige. "Back so soon?"

"Yeah, the intervention was a complete train wreck. Richard wouldn't listen to anyone."

"Oh, Paige, I'm so sorry," Phoebe said. Paige looked over to her for the first time and chuckled. "You're laughing at me? I'm trying to be sympathetic and you're laughing at me."

"I'm sorry. Maybe I needed a laugh after what I just went through," Paige apologized.

"Yeah, it's okay. Is there anything I can do?" Phoebe replied.

"Yeah, but don't you need to go help Major Nelson?" Paige said, causing her and Piper to laugh as Phoebe glared at them.

"What? It's funny, this is kinda funny," Piper said.

"Let's just finish the spell, okay?" Phoebe cried out.

Piper finally stopped laughing. "Alright, hey, I want this done just as badly as you do. Did you find us a ghost?"

Paige nodded. "Yeah, I got us Richard's dad. He's hanging out in limbo waiting for my call. Why do we need a ghost?"

"Well, once we capture Jinny, he can possess her and force her to wish Phoebe free."

"Here's those crystals you wanted," said Leo as he and Chris entered the room laughing together.

"You guys sure are chummy," Paige commented.

"Yeah, I had a change of heart. Decided to let bygones be bygones," Leo explained.

"Really?" Piper said, astonished by the news.

"Guys, there's something I have to tell you -" Phoebe started to say, not able to keep the secret in any longer.

Chris looked at her in alarm. "Ah, after we talk in the kitchen."

"But..."

"Phoebe," He held up the bottle and Phoebe disappeared into it. "Now that was cool. If you'll excuse me, I'm gonna have a little one on one with the help."

"What's he hiding now?" Piper asked, as Chris left the room and the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Paige said as she left as well.

"You know, Chris is a hell of a guy. You too should give him a chance once in a while," said Leo cheerfully.

\----------------------------------------------

"You wanna make them do what?" Phoebe and Eliana exclaimed as Chris explained his plan to them.

"We finally got dad in a good mood and mum, she's all sexed up for the fireman. This is the perfect time to hit them with the whammy."

"No, we are not going to make Piper and Leo sleep together, okay? We're gonna do this my way, mister!" Phoebe argued.

"Master," Chris corrected.

"Oh, you know what? Listen to me -" Phoebe said, pointing her finger at Chris.

"I'm sorry, Phoebe, but I'm running out of time here. A guy's gotta survive. I wish for Piper and Leo to sleep together tonight!"

"I'm not..." But Phoebe couldn't fight the magic and she was forced to put her hands together and blink. A loud thud came from the other room.

"What was that?" Eliana asked as the three of them ran into the conservatory.

"Oh, no. They're sleeping. You tricked me!" Chris shouted at Phoebe as they gazed at Piper and Leo, who were now fast asleep on the floor.

"No, you made me wish for them to sleep together. And they're sleeping -together!" Phoebe countered.

"This is a mess. I've only got one more wish to sort this thing out, so if you don't mind..." He held up the bottle.

"Oh, no, actually I do mind because Jinny could be here at any moment!"

"You know what? I'll summon you when she does. I command you back into the bottle!"

"When I get out this..." Phoebe started to say before she was sucked back into the bottle.

"Chris, I really don't think you're going about this the right way..." Eliana said, but Chris waved away her words and was turning around to leave, when a loud crash filled the room and he found himself flying through the room and into the grandfather clock.

Eliana ran over to him and helped him up before quickly turning around and grabbing one of the thieves' swords - stabbing him with it.

"Mind the bottle, Phoebe's inside," Chris shouted to Paige as she ran into the room.

Just then, Jinny shimmered in and headed for the bottle as Richard walked in. He sent her flying across the room as Paige stabbed the other thief; vanquishing him. "Crystals! Circle! Got her," she cried out as the crystals encircled Jinny.

"Where's the bottle?" asked Eliana as she surveyed the room. They all turned to see Richard holding the bottle but he disappeared before anyone could say anything.

\----------------------------------------------

"You think these crystals can hold me?" Jinny yelled to Paige as she reached out and was zapped by the crystals.

"Nope, not for long. That's why we're putting you back in your bottle," Paige replied.

"When I form my empire, the first thing I'm gonna do is rid the world of witches!"

"Oh, yeah? Well, when you're back in your bottle, the first thing I'm gonna do is put you in the microwave. Ha ha. How do you like that?" Paige stormed out of the conservatory and joined Eliana and Chris in the living room; where they were watching over a sleeping Piper and Leo. "Think she can scare me. They're still asleep? Have you tried smelling salts?" Paige asked.

"It won't work, trust me," Chris answered glumly.

"What's wrong with them?"

"It's a long story," Eliana told her.

"I don't know, why don't you give me the cliff notes version. Come on, Chris. You, Leo, Phoebe, and Eliana have all been acting weird since before the demon attacked. What is going on?" Paige exclaimed.

"Alright, I made a little wish," Chris admitted.

"You did what?"

"Two little wishes..."

"Oh, great. It's not bad enough I have to worry about Richard, now I have to worry about you too. What did you wish for?" complained Paige.

"For Leo to forgive me, which by the way, was an accident."

"And?" Paige prompted as Chris paused.

Chris shifted uncomfortably. "For Piper and Leo to sleep together."

Paige stepped back as her face filled with horror. "You! Oh my god, you are sick! What is wrong with you? You're disgusting!"

"No..." Chris tried to say but Paige cut him off.

"You are some creepy registered sex offender from the future."

Chris shook his head furiously. "No, no, no..."

"Paige, you don't understand!" Eliana chimed in. "Let him explain!"

"Oh my god, you are so gross," Paige continued to rant.

"I'm Piper and Leo's son!" Chris finally yelled out.

"What?" Paige finally stopped talking as Chris's words registered.

"They're my parents. I came back to save my family."

"You're serious," Paige sank into the sofa and breathed out a sigh.

"Yeah. Only now I've gotta save myself. Because if my mum doesn't get pregnant in the next month, there is no me," Chris explained.

"This is all so wrong. And this has been such a long day," Paige muttered, her mind racing.

"Look, I'm gonna orb over to Richard's, okay, and grab the bottle," Chris said calmly.

"No, you can't. He's, uh, he's crazy right now, he might hurt you, okay? I need to strip him of his powers. It's a whole thing," Paige said.

"Well, how's that gonna help?" asked Eliana, not seeing the connection.

"Well, he's been corrupted by magic and if I don't strip him of his powers, I might not be able to save him. Who else knows about this?" Paige asked, sighing again as she looked at Chris.

"About me? Just Phoebe and Eliana."

"Alright, you two watch Jinny, I'm gonna go make the potion, okay?"

Chris and Eliana nodded their understanding and Paige left the room.

\----------------------------------------------

"Oh, thank god. I thought a demon got me. Why didn't you let me out?" Phoebe cried out as she finally managed to tip her bottle over and reappear normal sized.

"I'm not ready for you yet," Richard said, frantically searching a stack of books.

"Hey, we're in the black magic vault. Um, is there a phone around because I'd really love to call Paige and just check in."

"No, there's not. I know I've got a book of wishes around here somewhere," said Richard, rifling through a set of drawers.

"Wishes?" said Phoebe worriedly.

"Yeah. Gotta get the wording right."

"Yeah, maybe you should just wish for sleep because I'm really good at that wish," Phoebe commented as Richard continued to search the vault.

"Look, I just want Paige to accept me the way I am - with magic. It's the only way we'll work."

"I don't think magic is the answer to your problems, I think it's the cause of your problems," Phoebe tried to point out, but Richard couldn't be reasoned with.

"Got you brainwashed too. I'm gonna have to cast a spell on the entire family. Here it is! - Paige, I told you. Don't orb in and surprise me!" Richard shouted as Paige orbed into the vault with a potion vial in her hand.

"He's not himself right now!" Phoebe warned her sister.

"How come you didn't tell me Chris was my nephew?" Paige asked, glaring at her sister.

"Yeah, maybe we could talk about that later because your boyfriend's about to whoo-whoo!" Phoebe countered.

"Look, I'm fine, alright? I just need to do some reading. I'll call you when I'm ready," said Richard.

Paige looked at her boyfriend and raised her arm. "This is for your own good." She threw the potion at Richard but he used his power to send both the potion and Paige flying across the room.

\----------------------------------------------

"Aren't you supposed to be at work or something?" Chris asked as he opened the front door to see Greg standing there.

"I'm on a break. I came to surprise Piper."

"Oh. Little booty call, huh?" Chris said, wiggling his brows suggestively.

"Is she here?"

"No, sorry, she's sleeping." Chris started to close the door but Greg stopped him.

"I don't believe you."

"Okay, see for yourself." Greg walked in and looked into the living room to see Piper and Leo asleep on the couch. Chris waved his hand and Piper fell closer to Leo, and Leo's hand fell on her shoulder. "Do you want me to tell her you stopped by?" he asked Greg.

"Uh, no, that won't be necessary," Greg replied sadly before turning to leave. Chris walked him out and was so focused on his own thoughts, that he didn't hear the sound of a body falling to the ground in the living room.

"Sorry, mum, it's for the best," he said to himself as he shut the front door and walked back into the living room. His eyes widened in shock as he saw Jinny standing over Eliana's body and holding a fireball aimed at his parents.

"Take me to the bottle," Jinny hissed.

\----------------------------------------------

"Are you okay? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to," Richard told Paige as he helped her up.

"It's okay. It's fine."

"I'll make it up to you."

"No, no, no, not that way," Phoebe cried as she guessed what Richard was thinking.

"No more wishes," Paige agreed.

"No, no, it's okay. It's not for me. Phoebe, I wish you free." A blue tornado of wind surrounded Phoebe, rose up and then surrounded Richard. "Uh, what is this?" he asked as he glanced down at his new clothes.

"What are you doing here?" Phoebe said, as Chris and Jinny orbed in.

Jinny threw a fireball at them and they ducked. Chris attacked Jinny but she grabbed his arm and tossed him across the room then picked up the bottle.

"Genie, I wish the Charmed Ones dead," she shouted.

Richard put his hands together and nodded his head. The girls fell to the floor, dead.

"No!" Chris yelled and ran to their side.

"Now, into the bottle," Jinny commanded and Richard was sucked into the bottle. "My condolences," she said to Chris before disappearing.

"No. You can't be dead yet. It's not your time. I know it's not your time!" Chris cried out as Phoebe and Paige's spirits floated out of their body. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, this is all my fault. She was gonna kill mum, dad, and Eliana!"

"Hey, Chris, we're not moving on," Phoebe stated as she realized that they weren't going anywhere.

"Why aren't we moving on?" Paige asked in confusion.

"Who cares? You're still here!" Chris cried.

"Got any unfinished business?" Paige asked Phoebe.

"No. You?"

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it would have been nice to find out I had another nephew before I died!"

"I was gonna tell you but I just didn't get a chance," Phoebe replied.

"Guys we can fix this. We can reverse the magic. All we need to do is get the bottle," Chris said excitedly.

Phoebe glanced at him then to her sister. "That's true, we're ghosts, we can possess Jinny. Where is Jinny?"

"Well, she was planning to conjure the lost city," Paige answered.

Phoebe turned to her nephew. "Don't worry, we're gonna take care of this. Should we go check on Piper first?"

"No, no, no. Piper's fine. I mean, she has to be, right? If she was dead, I would have vanished," Chris said, gesturing to his body to prove his point.

"How do we reach Jinny?" asked Paige.

"You're ghosts, you can haunt anybody you want. Just concentrate and it should wisp you right to her -" Phoebe and Paige closed their eyes and vanished. "Wait for me!"

\----------------------------------------------

"You sure this is the site?" Jinny demanded.

"One of the hounds of the Zanbar. They guarded the city for the Sultan," one of the thieves said, pointing to a pile of bones.

"I could use a few of those myself," Jinny said as she lifted the bottle up to her face. "You ready in there? I wish to resurrect the lost city of Zanbar." A huge Arabian city slowly rose out of the desert sands. "Finders, keepers," Jinny exclaimed.

"I wouldn't unpack just now if I were you," Paige commented as she, Phoebe, and Chris appeared.

"Why haven't you moved on? You're dead!" Jinny shouted angrily.

"So are you," said Phoebe as she jumped into Jinny's body. One of the thieves ran towards Chris and Chris threw him across the room. The other two thieves pulled out their swords and ran towards him.

"Watch out!" Paige warned.

"Phoebe, a little help here," Chris cried out.

Phoebe/Jinny tossed a fireball at both the thieves, vanquishing them. "I think I've got control of the body," she said as Chris grabbed a sword and stabbed the last thief.

"Okay, all clear," Paige stated.

Phoebe/Jinny picked up the bottle. "Richard, I wish you free."

Phoebe's spirit exited Jinny's body and Jinny was sucked into the bottle - Richard appearing in her place.

"Hi, honey," Paige said, waving to her boyfriend.

"Let me out of here!" Jinny yelled furiously.

"I wish the Charmed Ones alive again!" Richard said.

"Yes, master," Jinny grumbled, granting his wish.

\----------------------------------------------

"They're not waking up. How come they're not waking up?" Chris cried anxiously as he paced back and forth in front of his parents. Not only was he worried about his parents not waking up, but he needed Leo to heal Eliana! Jinny must have taken her by surprise and hit her in the chest with a fireball and now she was barely breathing.

"Would you relax?" Phoebe exclaimed.

"Relax? I'm sorry, did you say relax? Because Eliana's about to die and I'm about to disappear, vanish forever, cease to exist! "

"Oh my god, you're so dramatic," Phoebe rolled her eyes at her nephew then saw that Piper and Leo had finally woken up. "Hey, are you okay?"

Piper quickly pulled away from Leo. "I think so. Wh-wh-what are you doing?"

"Uh, I don't know, I swear. Leo stood up. "What's going on?"

"Arabic sleeping potion. Very strong, not good," Phoebe lied.

"You mean Jinny did this?" Piper asked.

"Who else?"

"Well, we've gotta stop her."

"We already did while you were sleeping. She's back in the bottle."

"Which we were sort of hoping you could take care of for us," Chris explained. "After you heal Eliana of course!"

"So that's it? It's all over?" Leo asked as he went over to Eliana and healed her wound.

"Pretty much. I mean, you still forgive me, right?" Chris replied.

"Of course."

"Good."

"I still wanna know why we all didn't die. What? I'm curious," Phoebe stated, ignoring the glare Chris was sending her way.

"Oh, sure, you don't mind them knowing that they almost died but not that...never mind," Chris closed his mouth and stopped talking.

"What are you talking about?" Piper looked at her sister in confusion.

"Jinny made a wish for the Charmed Ones to die and we almost did, but then we turned into ghosts and..."

"Huh. So that wasn't a dream I had. I was floating over my body looking down at me and then, uh, you healed me," Piper glanced at Leo as she remembered what she had thought was a dream.

"I did?"

"Yeah. I called to you when you were sleeping and somehow you must have heard me and you wouldn't let me go."

"Well, then that must be the reason why Phoebe and Paige's spirits didn't move on. See, the wish was for all the Charmed Ones to die, so saving you must have saved them," explained Chris.

Piper stared at Leo and smiled. "That was really sweet of you."

"Any time. So you wanna go with me to get Wyatt?"

"Sure," said Piper. Leo grabbed her hand and the two of them orbed out.

"Wait, wh...what about me?" Chris called after them.

"I wouldn't give up. There may be hope for you yet," Phoebe told him, having noticed the way the couple had stared at each other.


End file.
